Lost Honor
by lady-warrioress
Summary: The Federation in an attempt to gain an advantage against the space pirates, decide to bring back one of the high commanders. Ridley. But in a form they believe will make him less dangerous and submissive. A human.
1. Prologue

Scientists buzzed around the giant test tube in the center of the room, some looking at notes on clipboards and some perusing read outs on the computer screens.

A scientist would briefly slow down their pace every few minutes to sneak a glance at the tube but only for a few seconds before they resumed their work. What was inside floated passively in amber liquid. The glances were of those ensuring it would remain that way until the right time.

"How is the subject?" one scientist, a red haired woman asked, resting a hand on the back of a chair and leaning over to stare at her companions computer screen. "Any change?"

"No," the male scientist told her, his eyes glued to images. "Vitals are stable. I think this one will be able to endure the data transfer."

Her brown eyes lit up with satisfaction. "When is the sample being brought in?" the woman asked.

"Within the week if things continue to go well," he told her, clicking the mouse to open another screen. "I'm rather surprised this one has hung on so long, what with the mixing of genetics to create the body. The previous ones haven't lasted for such a duration. The splicing seems to have made it more durable, at least this time."

The female scientist smiled. "Well last time the bodies didn't have enough of the right DNA in the system. They used a bigger sample this time." she looked at the tank. "We might not know what species it is but a least we know it's a pretty hearty one."

"It should be," he said, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes. "After all the times it's been killed but able to revive itself. We wouldn't have even been able to get this sample if we hadn't sent in a crew after the devastation of the planet. It was a lucky find seeing as most everything else got vaporized in the explosion. When she does a job she sure is thorough about it."

"Yes, she is..." the woman agreed. She walked over to the tank and placed her hand on the cool glass. "That's the beauty of it all, hon," she said, refering back to the creature they'd been discussing previously. "Nothing else but the brain has managed to hold up against the Hunter for so long." she turned back to her partner. "It will be great to know how he managed it. If the data transfer is successful we'll have another ally on our side."

He smirked, it seemed a little mocking. "That is if the violent part of it doesn't get transfered along with the intelligence."

The female scientist turned away from the tank and rejoined her companion. "I think our technology has advanced enough to deal with that sort of inconvenience." she confidently. "and if it does.. well we have ways of dealing with it. This project must be successful, it's the only way we will be able to win."

* * *

"The body has managed to remain vital through the entire process," the red haired female scientist told the Federation Commander as he followed her down the hall of the research facility. "While it is technically brain dead and lives through artificial means it has not expired. It is ready for the transfer."

"Good," the man said, nodding his head with satisfaction. "Preparations have already begun. If all goes well the mind will be moved into the body within half an hour."

The woman had a small worry that had been growing steadily since her conversation with her companion the previous day and she voiced it to him. "Are you sure transfer this mind into a human body is a good idea, given the violent nature of the original spe-"

He waved a hand to cut her off. "Of course," he told her, obviously not wanting to argue about it. "This is why we are using a human body over a copy of the original species. The human body with it's many limitations will ensure it cannot do anything destructive."

The woman thought that over briefly then nodded, completely reassured. "Very well then sir, please follow me."

* * *

"Okay, transfer begins in T-minus ten seconds!"

The scientists moved quickly around the room as they readied their equipment for the final stage of the experiment. In one tank was the head of the alien being whose mind they intended to move and in the other was the body that had been readied to receive it.

The main female scientist stood beside the commander, watching her fellow scientists ready the machines, arms folded and face a mixture of intense concentration and dread. They only had one chance to get this right, if they failed the past few months of work would be for nothing.

"Three... two... one... Okay. NOW!"

A male scientist pulled a lever on the wall behind the tanks and stepped back as the tanks lit up, allowing a full detailed view of both the objects resting inside.

As all the workers in the room except for the few watching the monitors stepped away to watch, sparks of electricity began to burst from the tanks as the body and the alien head lit up. The main female scientist turned her focus on the monitor workers. "Status." she said.

"Everything good so far," the man at the screen said. "Twenty five percent and climbing. No problems. Thirty... thirty five... forty..."

"Looks like your worries were unfounded after all," the commander said, turning his attention to the woman. When she looked at him, he said. "It seems we're going to succeed."

She nodded, her eyes on the tanks. '"Yes, it seems that we are..."

"Ninety.. ninety five.. ninety six, ninety eight , ninety nine..." the monitor worker held his breath as the last bit of information seemed to take forever to transfer. "One hundred! Transfer complete!"

Relief. Sweet relief. "Power down!" the female scientist barked an order. "Don't let it be over stimulated!"

"Affirmative," the man wrote out a command on the screen as the other male scientist rushed over to pull the switch. "Powering down!"

But just as he attempted to grab it, there was a powerful shock of electricity that knocked him off his feet. He landed in a heap in front of the others and, as one female leaned over to check on him and make sure he hadn't been hurt too badly, there was another flash of electricity and then the power went out.

"What happened!?" the commander demanded as the room plunged into darkness.

"I don't know." the woman said, that dread from before returning in full force. Of all the time for things to go bad! "Someone restore power!"

There was the sound of running footsteps then a moment later the lights came back on. As everyone blinked in the sudden light, the main female scientist rushed over to the tank holding the body, dreading what she would see. She could feel a wave of disappointment rushing over her. All that work and they had failed!

She stood in front of the tank and rested her hand on the glass as she looked inside.

She could make out the body floating in the amber liquid, it was still hooked up to the life support cables. She leaned forward, squinting at the body, taking in its features. It seemed as lifeless as before-

The eyes suddenly opened. She gasped and moved her head back as the two orbs, glowing a poisonous yellow, locked onto hers. She blinked and leaned forward again. The eyes held her gaze and, as she stared, she was sure they were studying her, taking in every detail of her face and body, calculating. It made her feel uneasy.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump. She jerked sideways and turned her head, staring right into the face of the commander, eyes wide. He looked less professional, his face a mask of concern.

"Dr. Ivory?" he said, sounding uncertain. "What is it?"

She looked back into the tank. Those eyes were still open and they continued to study her. Her attention then returned to the commander. "Call your superiors," she said, her voice wavering even as she tried to control it. "Tell them we have succeeded."


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Noises, so many noises...

They vibrated like a crescendo in his mind. There was light too, bright light that hurt his eyes every time he tried to open them. The one time his eyes had managed to stay open for an extended period of time was days ago when he'd opened them to find himself staring at a human woman with red hair staring back at him.

It had been much longer than that for real, but he didn't remember that, even though his eyes had remained open for an extended period of time.

The noises were growing louder though he couldn't make out what exactly he was hearing. It sounded like an odd muttering, however whatever was creating it he wasn't able to see due to the brightness of the light.

Both things were beginning to to get to him. He wanted to see what was making those noises as well as find out where he was. He needed to know.

 _But it hurts._ his mind was telling him _. It's too painful._

He didn't want it to hurt but he felt if he allowed himself to shy away from whatever pain the lights caused he would remain where he was.

He did not like where he was.

While unsure of the exactly location one of the first conscious feelings of this place was how cold it was. It was also wet. He was submerged in some kind of liquid. It should have been drowning him but he wasn't. He could breath due to some kind of strange apparatus connected to his face. He didn't know what it was or how it got there but it was keeping him alive in this cold and wet place.

 _I want out. I don't like it here._

While his concept of time was null he felt he'd been in there long enough. As his brain fired information through his senses, his desire to get out grew greater and an odd sense that something similar had happened to him in the past though the memory was fuzzy. This yearning for freedom far surpassed the part of his mind that shied from the painful lights.

He had to get out and he was going to.

* * *

Dr. Ivory was at her computer looking at the readouts of the brain activity of the being in the tank. After the mind transfer; the it had seemed to lapse into a strange sleep mode which could not be interrupted no matter how much she and her fellow workers stimulated it. Aside from when it had opened its eyes to look at her a month ago it had made no other action. She was beginning to wonder if the body hadn't been able to contain the mind after all and had expired. The only thing that kept her from terminating it completely was the brain activity being picked up on the monitors.

It was alive just not active.

"Don't worry about it," the commander had told her earlier that day when she'd explained the problem to him. "If you used part of the beings own DNA to create it this is normal. It's probably merely allowing its mind and body to adapt to each other."

"I hope you're right," she said now as she stared at the screen. "because I am getting tired of no results." she looked over at the tank. "I hope he finishes whatever he's doing soon. We still have a lot to do if we're ever going to get this thing fit to be used properly..."

She need not have worried because at that very moment there was a loud blip on her screen. Alerted by the sound, she looked back at the monitor and discovered that the window showing the brain activity was beginning to move. The red line which had barely moved at all since the transfer was beginning to pulsate like crazy. It went up and down, up and down in jagged mountains, the low beeping sound beginning to grow louder and more frantic.

Behind her she heard a thump and her head swiveled back around toward the tank. The being inside the tank had opened it's eyes. She could see those yellow irises moving around frantically as if they were trying to figure out where it was. She stared at them transfixed for a moment before a loud thumping brought her out of her trance.

The thing was moving. It had been curled up in a fetal position for the entire time it had been in the tank but now it had uncurled its legs and arms and was thrashing madly in the amber liquid.

Dr. Ivory moved quick, hitting a button that alerted everyone else in the lab that there was an emergency, before getting out of her chair and rushing toward the tank.

THUNK!

A foot slammed hard against the glass. The scientist jumped back, gasping. It was trying to break out!

 _ **THUMP THUMP THUMP!**_

She rushed back to the computer and quickly typed out a command on the keyboard. There was a sucking sound as the water in the tank began to drain out from vents in the bottom.

Obviously this wasn't going fast enough for the being and there was a loud bang behind her.

The female scientist turned just as two things happened: The door to the lab burst open and the tank exploded. She and the scientists who had come in all ducked downward to avoid flying glass. She felt shards of it rain down on her a few seconds before there was silence. She lifted her head and looked toward the tank.

There, crouched on the lower platform, was the creature they had created, naked and exposed to the world outside it's holding tank. A odd combination of human and space dragon DNA. Due to the use of human genetics being the dominate gene it looked very much like a man but with slightly reptilian features. Skin with a faint pupil tint, long pointed ears, and glowing yellow snake like eyes. On its head was feather like white hair that grew out long and near the end changed from featuring to a more leather like look. At the very end of it hung a rather nasty looking spear shaped spike. It looked a lot like the tail of the dragon whose genes they'd used.

Even as she took this all in she realized that those glowing yellow eyes with slitted catlike pupils was staring back at her with what was not confusion or fear but a cold calculating certainty.

She backed up, eyes wide and heart pounding. This thing knew!

Then it spoke in a low, gravelly voice that sent a shiver down her spine. "Where am I?"

* * *

What greeted him when the creature broke out of the tank was not what he'd expected at all. A building, looking like a laboratory and nearly a dozen humans in lab coats standing in the room, all eyes on him. Why were there humans and how did they get there? He wanted to know and he was going to get an answer.

The red headed woman in the lab coat had taken a step back in fear when he had spoken to her but she quickly recovered and spoke in a wavery voice in response to his question. "You are..." she paused, as if trying to come up with an answer. "You're in a Galactic Federation Lab on the main home world."

A Galactic Federation laboratory?! How had he gotten there?! WHAT was he doing there?

Something was wrong. His last memory, though hazy, had him laying nearly dead on a planet falling apart before his eyes. His eyes had picked up the image of a figure rushing past him before a searing pain and darkness ripped through him.

Why wasn't he dead?

"Why?" he growled.

The woman thought he was talking to her. "Why are you here?" she asked. "We made you."

What? That made no sense. Not with what he could remember. He had existed before. These humans hadn't made him. That was wrong.

Then it hit him and he froze. What if? On an impulse he looked down at his hands. He counted five fingers similar to a humans with long claw like finger nails. But that wasn't what got to him, it was the fact his hands had five fingers and were made out of flesh!

His hands closed into fists. His hazy memories contradicted what he was seeing. The few pieces of information that flashed through his mind involving his hands showed a four fingered hand with deadly claws. The hands were covered in armored scales, not this soft flesh they were now.

"No..."

This was completely and utterly wrong.

Though his mind was trying to find logic in all of this his sharp eyes still picked up a quick nod the red haired female scientist gave to her fellow scientists. They began to move toward him. He lurched back, baring his teeth which were pointy and sharp instead of mostly flat like a human.

"Get away from me!" he hissed.

"Easy now," the female scientist said gently, attempting to sooth him. "There's no reason to get worked up."

How dare this woman claim there was no excuse to become angry. These humans had taken him to this strange place and put him into an alien body that did not belong to him! Now they were moving in to do who knows what else to him.

Well he wasn't going to allow it.

As they drew closer he backed up even more, putting even more distance between himself and the scientists.

* * *

He was going to attack, the Dr. Ivory realized as she watched her colleagues move in on him. She could tell by his body language and the way he was crouching down like a cornered animal, yellow eyes glowing and those carnivorous teeth showing. Her fellow workers would regret it if they got any closer.

But before she could speak a warning their creation lunged. An unnatural sounding shriek escaped his mouth, the noise breaking the other tank in the room and making the equipment go haywire. One of the female scientists screamed when the computer by her exploded. At that same moment the being landed on one of the other workers, slamming him hard onto the floor.

The other scientists moved in to intervene but the creature swung at them, that weird spike at the end of the ponytail like thing coming out of its head lashing out and slashing open one of the other scientists. Blood burst out of the wound as the man went down.

Another female scientists screamed in horror as the blood showered over her body.

The creature took that moment of chaos to bolt, jumping off the downed scientist and making his way to the door on the far end of the room. Before anyone could react to this he burst out of the room and rushed down the hall.

He was getting away! Dr. Ivory realized as her fellow scientists went over to help their wounded colleague. If he got out who knew what kind of trouble he would get into. As she turned to help her co-workers out she pressed a switch on the wall by her computer desk.

An alarm began to blare.

* * *

The alarm caused the being to pause briefly. The urgent sound of the blaring sirens only brought more memories into his mind and spurred him on. He was going to get out of this place and, if anyone tried to stop him, they were going to regret getting in his way.

A pair of Federation troopers suddenly blocked his way. They aimed their guns at him. "Halt or we'll shoot!" they shouted.

He had no plans on stopping. "Out of my way!" he snarled, rushing them and dispatching the two pretty easily with unnaturally accurate blows and use of that spear connected to his "hair".

Once the two were down he continued running, keeping his eyes and ears sharp in case anymore Federation Forces tried to stop him. More did try to stop him but he easily dispatched them, though he failed to kill a single one which brought him a rather unpleasant feeling of disappointment.

After succeeding to take down all who stood in his way he'd managed to reach the hanger where a few ships were docked. He intended to steal one and get out of there. However before he could, his ears were assaulted by a horrible sonic blast that sent him to the ground.

Disoriented by the sound, he attempted to get back up but another burst of sonic sound waves sent him back to the ground. Every time he tried to get back up he was hit again, crashing hard onto the hanger floor.

Groaning, he covered his ears with his hands in attempt to block out the noise and slowly got back up, standing drunkenly as his eyes searched the hanger for any sign of whatever was making that sound. The yellow irises fell on a figure in armor moving toward him. In their hands was an odd looking weapon.

Before he could speak or make any attempt to move he was hit by another wave and sent back to the floor. This time the figure in armor didn't turn off the device and allowed it to assault the creature's senses even as he writhed in agony.

As he lay incapacitated on the ground he sensed more figures standing over him before he was overwhelmed. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the stoic face of an older man watching him in cold silence.

* * *

"It seems your experiment was a complete success, maybe a little too successful even."The Federation Commander was saying to Dr. Ivory sometime later as he stood in one of the labs with her.

"We didn't expect it to try escaping," she admitted, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes tiredly. "We were hoping it would lack the desire to because of confusion. "

He smirked at her. "It seems you are wrong."

"yes," she agreed, slightly annoyed at his expression. "I guess so but at least we know our creation hasn't expired. I don't think the sonic guns even gave it any ill effects."

"You don't know that yet." he was quick to point out. "It hasn't come around yet."

"Then why don't we check on it now?" Dr. Ivory said, turning toward the holding cell where the Federation Soldiers had carried the being's body after they had incapacitated it some time ago.

The Federation Commander also looked toward the cell, walking toward the bullet proof glass and in at the creature which lay unconscious on the floor. The scientists had taken the precaution of immobilizing the being with manacles that not only kept it docile but cancelled out the strange abilities it had manifested. There was also one on wrapped around its head which was currently keeping it in a unconscious state. "Very well then," he consented. "You may awaken it."

The scientist nodded and opened the door. She and the commander stepped inside the cell. She knelt down and pressed a button connected to a band fashioned around the creature's head. The light, which had been glowing a light green color, changed to red and the device fell off with a faint clatter.

After retrieving this device she stood and returned to the commander. "He should come round in a moment."

* * *

The being had been in a state of suspended animation while the dive around his head's power had been active but not that the power had been turned off and removed the being's mind began to work quickly, rapidly taking in the world around it. First feeling returned, then sound, and smell. It wasn't until the being opened its eyes that sight returned.

He stared up at the humans hovering over him. Anger rose in his chest and he growled, trying to lunge for them. When he did so an electric surge coursed through him, sending him crashing back onto the floor. It only took a second for him to become aware of the metal bracelets on his wrists and ankles that bound his limbs together by use of a powerful magnetic field.

"I warned you he could become violent," the female scientist said to the official looking man beside her. "This is why we have him restrained."

The man with her nodded. "It was a wise decision on you and your team's parts. " When the woman nodded he continued. "But now that I know he can't harm me I would like to spend a moment alone with him." he seemed to notice the look on her face. "Don't worry, Dr. Ivory, I will be careful."

"Okay," the woman said, still looking unsure. "But if he tries anything just press the button on this to keep him in line." she handed him a small object.

He took it with a smile. "Of course."

Once the woman was gone the Commander turned his attention on the creature laying bound and helpless on the floor. His eyes locked with the being's cold yellow ones and it could see a rather smug smile appear on his face. For a few brief moments the two simply stared at each other.

Then the man spoke. "This has been a long time coming... Ridley."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ridley.

The name seemed to work as a key, unlocking more of the hazy memories hidden from the creature until then. Names, places, and images soared through his mind as the name sunk in, returning a large chunk of information to his consciousness. These revelations only served to anger him more. It also helped him realize why he'd been having such a problem believing those scientists had been his creators as well as adding to the disgust he had for this new organic and much weaker body.

And the real clincher was that this human in the Galactic Federation Commander uniform seemed to be enjoying this. He looked so smug as if he were reveling in the fact that Ridley, the most feared Space Pirate Commander was nothing more than a weak bodied organic being laying bound and helpless before him.

If he had been free at that very moment he would have torn out this man's throat. But he could do nothing and this human being towering over him knew that and he was enjoying it.

Ridley, as he was addressed as such and his memory also confirmed that was who he was, bared his teeth at the Commander. This didn't even bother the human as he knew the threat in the action could never be carried out.

"Come now, there's no need for such a reaction." The gloating human began.

"No need?" Ridley hissed, not believing what he was hearing. "Look what you humans have done to me! "

"We actually brought you back the life," the man said. "so you actually owe us for that."

So he had died which made his final memory before awakening in the tank make sense, The world falling apart and the searing pain. But maybe this man was lying. Maybe he hadn't died after all. Maybe they had found his body and did something to it and that was why he was in this new form.

"I don't believe you." he growled.

"It doesn't really matter if you don't believe me," the Commander said,sitting down on the slab of metal bolted to the wall that obviously was supposed to be a bed of some kind. He continued to stare down at Ridley. "Seeing as the proof is right in front of you. But if you need an explanation I will give you one. Zebes is gone. Blown up. It no longer exists in any solar system except in tiny little pieces."

What?! Ridley's eyes widened in surprise at this. How could the planet be gone? But he shouldn't have been wondering that. He knew that the planet most likely had done just what this human said it did because of his own memories.

"Surprised?" the Commander asked, taking in Ridley's reaction. "You should be thinking about how you wound up here and not about the fate of your home planet. "

Why should he? This man would most likely tell him anyway. There had to be a reason for this.

His silence was enough. "As you are full aware; you are still alive but in this body. I don't know how the mechanics work exactly but the science department did it by creating your current body then placing your mind inside it. We managed to find your head in all the planetary rubble floating in space. We froze it to prevent deterioration and here you are." he stood up. "If you have any questions about that process I am sure Dr. Ivory and her team would be willing to fill you in."

Ridley didn't want to ask them anything, he wanted to kill them. This form they'd given him was weak and pathetic. If they were going to bring him back why hadn't they just created a replica of his real body to put his mind in?

But this man was already explaining why even as he tried to figure it out. "As for the form you have now. I believe its pretty obvious why you were given it. This body is far less dangerous than your reptilian space dragon body. We can't exactly have something as unpredictable as you walking around in something like that."

Ridley let out a growl, squirming against his bonds and giving the man a look that meant death. "I'll show you less dangerous," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Get this things off me and we'll see how harmless I am."

"No, that's not going to happen." the Commander was heading for the door. "You see, you're an important asset, even if you don't know it." he opened the door but paused before he headed out. "I would advice you to just accept the fate you were given. It will make things much easier for all of us, and don't even think of trying to escape again and rejoining your fellow comrades. They're dead and the few remaining pockets out there we're trying to locate will never accept you now."

and with that he was gone, leaving Ridley to lay on the floor, a seething pile of rage.

* * *

Samus Aran, after spending some time alone on Tallon IV after the loss of Zebes where she had been raised by the Chozo, was on her way back to more familiar space. She'd gone to Tallon IV to seek some solace in familiar surroundings. While she had not grown up on the world the Chozo ruins reminded her of Zebes and gave her some comfort while she mourned the loss of all the things she considered dear to her. She'd also managed to allow herself to take some solace in the fact certain creatures that had haunted her were finally out of commission and would no longer be an unwelcome part of her life.

Namely Mother Brain, Ridley and Space Pirates, though she was sure there were still some lurking about on some of their other home worlds. Maybe they'd find something else to do with their time now that all the metroids were gone, including the infant she'd gone to Zebes to retrieve. It was a shame it had to die, as it had shown that the creatures could have been used for the good of the Federation.

Samus sighed as her ship hovered over the Galactic Federation home world Daiban. She had promised to pay a visit to Admiral Dane once she'd returned from her time of mourning. The Federation official had told her before she left to take as much time as she needed, as he understood what it was like to lose everything. She was grateful for his understanding and wanted him to know she had returned and was feeling better.

But she didn't go to the planet right away, suddenly feeling apprehensive. She leaned back in her seat, allowing herself to deactivate her power suit for a moment. She didn't know why but something told her she should wait a little longer before she actually touched down.

The feeling didn't make much sense because she was not considered an enemy down there and nobody would be angry at her about what happened. It wasn't like she'd known that Mother Brain had set the planet to explode if she were to ever be destroyed. That hadn't happened the previous time she'd defeated her.

But would the federation blame her anyway? Did they say one thing to her face but think something else behind her back?

She hit herself in the forehead. Why in the world was she even thinking such things? When had she become to obsessed with how people felt about her? It never bothered her before.

Maybe she wasn't completely over it after all. But then again nobody expected her to be. Even the chozo ghosts had told her it would take awhile before it stopped hurting so much and let her know how she was feeling was a normal thing.

They'd suggested she also focus on what good had come out of the whole thing as well. Yes the planet she'd grown up on been destroyed but she'd also managed to remove a huge enemy to the universe in the process. Mother Brain was gone along with nearly every space pirate.

Which reminded her that after years of repeated encounters she'd also ended the life of the monster who was responsible for the death of her biological parents and the chozo who had been life a father to her. That brought some comfort to her as it allowed her to finally close that chapter in her life.

And good riddance.

Samus sat up, her suit coming back to normal. It was time for her to touch down. A friend of her's was waiting.

* * *

The female human scientist was watching him like a hawk. Ridley sat in a corner of the holding cell, still restrained and angry, watching the red haired scientist the Commander had called Dr. Ivory move around the lab, constantly stopping in front of the window to look in at him. It was really getting on his nerves.

But what could he do about it? He was trapped inside this cell with no way of escape. If what that Federation Commander has said was true he would be there for a long time and nobody would be coming for him.

 _Why would they?_ he asked himself. _They think I am dead and if they did come they would be looking for a space dragon, not this thing._

No, he was not going to be rescued by the space pirates who were probably somewhere mourning his death. If they cared at all. He hadn't exactly been a kind commander, though that was a given in his line of work. Space Pirates weren't supposed to be kind, they were supposed to be ruthless.

That being said if they did find out he was still alive they probably wouldn't come to find him anyway and as he realized before if they did they'd be looking for a space dragon. If they came and discovered what he was now they'd do one of two things. Not believe him or believe him and leave him there since he was now nothing more than a delicate and useless human.

He shifted his position because his arms were beginning to hurt. Curse these blasted shackles! Why did that whore have to put those things on him? He wasn't violent inside this cell and he had no way of getting out of this place even if he could get violent.

He looked toward the window, tempted to try to get the woman's attention and convince her to deactivate them but held himself back. He still had his pride and begging was far beneath him. So he sat there, staring out the window at the scientists who had entered the room a few moments previous wandering around the room, doing whatever it was they did.

One scientist who came in had stopped by the head female scientist's desk where she had eventually settled into and leaned over the back of her chair to say something over her shoulder. The woman looked up to listen and he could see her nodding her head. Soon the co-worker pulled away and went over to the cell and stood in front of the window to look in at him.

Ridley glared at him, his yellow eyes cold. What did this little flesh bag want? Was he getting his kicks out of looking at what the space pirate commander had been reduced to? Did he think this was interesting? Maybe he was part of the crew who had done this to him and was enjoying the outcome, gloating over it with some kind of sick, sadistic satisfaction.

Ridley really wished he were free so he could rip this annoying little waste of flesh's eyes out.

The scientist's eyes widened and he backed away without a single word which made ridley smirk as he'd actually accomplished something.

Just then the door to the lab opened once more and another person stepped in. It was a man with brown hair and wearing glasses. He was also dressed as a scientist. the new human walked over to where the female scientist stood and started talking to her.

Ridley watched them talking in hushed voices, wondering what was going to happen now. The way those two were acting it seemed they had something planned for him that they didn't want him knowing about.

Finally the woman turned to the window and pressed the speaker button again. "This is Dr. Arms," she said. "He would like to talk to you."

* * *

Castor Dane was waiting on the ship's landing pad when she landed, waving a greeting when her ship's vision screen was in view. She waved back,though she was sure he didn't see her do it, what with the green hue in the thick visor plating of the ship's windshield.

Once her ship was safely on the ground and she'd exited it Dane walked over to greet her, putting out his hand to shake hers which she did. "How are you feeling?" he asked her right away.

"Better," she said in a slightly guarded tone. The memories from the events on Zebes were still painful to relive but it wasn't as bad as it had been a few months ago. The Federation had been kind enough to agree to leave her alone during that time but Samus was pretty sure it might have been due to Admiral Dane. "I thank you for asking. It's been a tough few months for me."

He nodded with understanding. "As it would be for anyone who has gone through what you have."

"Yes." she sighed, deactivating her suit so she would be in her more civilian clothing. Not her zero suit but a blue tank top and a pair of shorts. "Tallon IV gave me some comfort." as the faint spectral Chozo ghosts who had come down from the higher plain.

They had helped her come to terms with what had happened on Zebes as well as what she considered her failure. She'd accepted none of that had been her fault. She'd done her best.

"It would be understandable," he agreed. "The Chozo were part of your family even if the ones on that planet never knew you."

"The Chozo are kind," she told him. "I am happy to have gotten to know them." she looked at the sky, a wave of sadness washing over her. "I just wish I could have done more to save their home world."

"You did the best you could," he answered, placing a hand on her shoulder. "That's all any of us could have asked for and who knows? Maybe you didn't fail after all. The threat is gone and we only have a few minor branches to take care of. Without Mother Brain or the rest of the High Command around they will most likely fall apart and move onto more honest practices."

Samus made a rude noise. They both knew that was unlikely to happen. If any pirates still remained they'd try to regroup and find new commanders. She was sure a few of them were out there as there was no chance Ridley, Mother Brain, and Kraid were all there was. "Space Pirates don't work that way."

"I know," he told her. "I wasn't being serious." he gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze. "but I didn't want you to visit me so we could talk about Space Pirates. We both need a day off from those things."

She managed a small smile. "Got anything in mind?"

Castor Dane shook his head. "You will just have to come with me to find out."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ridley eyed the new scientist with disgust. If this woman as introducing him to him he must be important but why he couldn't even think of. What she expect this man to do with him? Maybe he would conduct some kind of experiments on him seeing as everyone seemed to think he was nothing more than a project.

The scientist was eying him back with a rather odd expression on his face that made Ridley feel uncomfortable. It reminded the space pirate of how predators looked at their prey just before they move in for the kill. Stupid humans, why did they have to look at anything different from them as if they had some kind of right to be judgmental?

 _So what are you going to do to me?_ he thought. _Plug me into a computer? Dissect me while I'm still alive?_

"Dr. Ivory," the man said, after a few moments of studying Ridley. He'd turned his attention away from the space pirate commander. "Would it be of any trouble if we moved him to a different location?"

The woman frowned, looking uncertain. "Why do you want to do that?" she asked him.

He pushed his glasses up his nose. "I believe it would put us all more at ease if we did it," he explained. "and I don't feel comfortable speaking with him like this and I don't think _he_ does either."

Dr. Ivory looked like she was thinking that over. "I don't know if you want to be at ease," she warned him. "He is unpredictable. I am sure you heard about what happened after he'd woken up."

Dr. Arms nodded. "Yes, I am aware of this," he told her. "But I believe if I were given some time to do my own work with things he will be feel less threatened and more open to talk with us."

The woman hesitated for another moment then finally gave in. "Very well," she said, turning to summon two Federation guards who had been stationed in the lab just in case something else happened.

"Just one thing," he said to her as the two guards entered the cell to retrieve the space pirate. "Could you please get him something to wear? I don't feel comfortable speaking with him while he's in the buff."

The woman looked at Ridley then at her fellow scientist. "Very well," she told him. "We can take care of that easily."

She looked at the guards who had come out with a still restrained Ridley and addressed them. "Let's get him something to wear."

* * *

Admiral Dane had taken Samus to a small park area near the main Federation building. The female bounty hunter remembered the area well as she'd visited it often when she was in the Federation herself. She'd concluded early she had needed a place to just sit and think without a plethora of distractions. It felt nice to have time alone to just sit and think without taking orders as she really didn't like doing so anyway. It had been one of the reasons she'd gone to be a freelance bounty hunter. No Commanding Officers to bark orders.

The woman and the older man found a bench by a small clump of trees and sat down before they said anything more.

"What have you been doing by the way?" Samus asked the Fleet Admiral.

"Not much," he told her. "Just ensuring that the planets you freed from the Leviathans don't become cesspools for space pirates again."

"I don't think we have to worry about that now, since most if not all, of them are gone or in hiding," she told him, brushing a strand of her long blond hair out of her eyes. "and there will be no phazon contamination now that the home planet no longer exists."

Castor Dane nodded. "That's true," he agreed with her. "But space pirates are the kind who will look for anything to increase their power. If it's not phazon or metroids it'll be something else."

"I agree," she confirmed to him with a nod. "That's just how they are. They are such a stubborn race."

"Not too different from the woman who is intent on ending their existence," he remarked with a smirk. "Now if only we could figure out a way to be rid of them for good."

Samus smield slightly at his remark before esponding to the second part. "I don't think that's possible," she told him. "but with the high commanders all dead they might just disband and spend the rest of their lives doing something more honest."

Dane rose an eyebrow. "Do you really believe that?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "I don't believe that but it can't hurt to hope." she sighed, and rubbed her forehead in an exasperated manner. "I thought we weren't going to talk about this anymore today."

"I guess it's not so easy to let it go, since it is pretty much a large part of who we are." he shot her an apologetic look. "Sorry."

She shrugged. "You have nothing to be sorry about." her eyes then fell on a swing set built across from where they were sitting. There were two kids sitting on them, just enjoying themselves. She stared at the smalle sight for a few moment before saying. "Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if the space pirates had never killed my parents. What would I be doing right now? Would I be married? Would I have my own family?"

"I don't know," Dane told her, also looking at the swing set and then children. He knew she was looking for anything to change the subject with and the topic she chose was something he himself had asked about his own life. "But I'm sure if you had been given a normal life you would have been a good mother."

She cast her friend a grateful look. "Thanks," she told him. "I'm sure you would have made a great husband and father yourself."

He shrugged. "Maybe but we'll never know now."

"You're right," she agreed, her eyes still on the children playing on the swings. "But it can't hurt to think about it."

"Yeah," he agreed, seeing no real reason to argue with her.

"But if you had the chance would you even _want_ any children?" she questioned.

This topic seemed out of character for someone like Samus. "Why are you suddenly asking such questions?" he wanted to know.

Samus gave another shrug. "Curiosity."

Castor Dane thought otherwise and chose his words wisely when he spoke again. "Is it because of the Metroid Infant?" he asked her carefully.

She turned to him, beginning to say something but just then another Federation officer walked toward them and paused and saluted when he spotted the Fleet Admiral. "Admiral Dane, sir," the man said. "I've been ordered by the high commander to summon you to his office."

Castor looked unhappy about this sudden turn of events. He had really hoped to get an answer to his question. "I'll be right there." Dane said, sighing as he stood up. "My only day off in years and I can't even enjoy it." Samus heard him mutter.

Before leaving he turned to Samus. "I'm sorry," he said. "I guess this is it."

"It's fine," the female bounty hunter told him, though he noticed she seemed to be a little relieved about the interruption. It prevented her from having to say anything about a very sensitive subject. "I completely understand. Business before friends."

He nodded. "Maybe some other time." He tipped his hat to her and left.

Samus watched the two officers walk off before she stood up with a sigh. It seemed she wouldn't be getting her mind off things for a little longer. "No point hanging around here," she said to herself. "I should head home."

The female bounty hunter cast one last look at the playing children before heading off toward her apartment.

* * *

Before Ridley was taken to Dr . Arms' laboratory he was pushed into an empty room and the magnets on his bonds deactivated. He paused, looking around, wondering what they planned on doing to him. There was nothing in the room, though, no traps or weapons. All that was there was a pile of folded clothing.

He picked up the garments, suspicious. It looked like some kind of uniform. What did they expect him to do with these things?

A voice suddenly spoke out of nowhere, making him jump. "You're supposed to wear it!"

Wear it? He glared at the clothing, disgusted. What need did he have for clothing? It was a pointless hassle and had no real reason for existing. He didn't understand why so many planetary races of alien even wore those things. And besides, why did he have to wear this to meet these Federation people anyway? Surely they wouldn't care if he walked in butt naked.

"Do you need someone to help you?" the voice asked, sounding exasperated.

He growled. What kind of question was that anyway? No, he didn't. He could dress himself!

That was, he thought, turning the clothing over. If he knew how to put it on. His real form hadn't required clothing. He preferred it that way. Just another disadvantage to this cursed body.

"Ridley."

"Shut up!" he snapped at the unseen voice. "I don't need your help!"

"Then hurry up!"

Well he hurried the best he could, pretty sure if he didn't these humans would send someone in to force him into this thing and if he fought them he'd get electrocuted. Those things on his wrists and ankles might not be restraining him but he could tell from the green lights on them they were still active, as was the one around his neck. He put the uniform on, though it was frustrating. It kept bunching up and all those buttons and zippers were just a hassle. By the time he was done the uniform was a wrinkled mess and his shirt was on backwards.

"There, you happy?" he snapped at the unseen voice.

"Good enough," the voice said, sounding exasperated. "Step outside and don't try anything. If you make any kind of aggressive action or try to escape your shackles will send a powerful shock through you."

"Yeah yeah..." he muttered, walking toward the door. Out in the hall was the professor and the Federation guards, Dr arms had gone ahead to prepare for their visit. They allowed him to walk out, their guns trained on him.

He was tempted to make a lunge at them but held it in. No point being unnecessarily aggressive. Not right now anyway. He'd get his chance eventually.

"Now," the female scientist said. "if you cooperate you will be led into the room unfettered. Make any aggressive move and you'll be carried in. Understood?"

He glared at her but nodded.

"Good." she eyed his rumpled uniform but said nothing about it. "Let's go."

With a nudge from one of the Federation rifles they moved on. A moment later they reached the interrogation room and led him inside. He noticed the other scientist was already there, sitting at the table waiting patiently. He smiled when he saw them and waved a hand, inviting them in.

The scientist and her guards led over to the table but did not sit him down in the chair. The woman scientists hit a button and the shackles reactivated, forcing his wrists back together as the guards stood on either side of him.

"Now you don't need to do that," Dr. Arms told them.

Dr. Ivory looked at him with a frown. "It will be safer for you this way."

"I'll be the judge of that,"the man told her. "If he makes any moves that I perceive as dangerous then I will have him restrained but if he behaves himself I don't think that we will have an issue." he smiled at Ridley. "I'm sure he's a reasonable person and would appreciate a little trust on our part."

The female scientist frowned but decided to do things his way. She deactivated the bonds stating. "If anything happens you'll have nobody to blame but yourself for it." she reminded him.

"I'll take full responsibility then," he assured her seemingly downplaying her concerns with a wave of his hand and a disarming smile.

Ridley pulled his arms in front of him and folded them across his chest. Now would be a good chance for him to make these people pay but he could sense that the two guards flanking him and he was pretty sure they were not the only guns in the room and made no attempt on anyone. Instead he stood there, listening to the scientists discussing things.

Dr. Ivory, the female, folded her arms and gave the male scientist a stubborn look. He smiled at her as if to say. "Hey I got this, don't worry." She continued to glare at him for a moment longer then shrugged and turned to leave. "Fine, your funeral." she headed for the door calling to the soldiers. "Come on, we'll wait in the other room."

The two soldiers looked uncertain but Dr. Arms encouraged them to leave as well. "Go on," he told them. "Everything will be fine."

They hesitated a moment longer then turned to follow the other scientist.

Once she and her company were gone the male scientist turned his full attention to Ridley who was standing there, his body tense as if he was expecting something to happen.

"Sit down, Ridley," the man said to him as he himself sat down at the table. "I only want to talk to you."

"About what?" the space pirate demanded.

"How about what's happened to you since you were brought back?" the man suggested to him. "I heard you had a rather rough time since your resurrection."

Ridley rose a brow. "Yeah so?" he asked suspiciously.

The man leaned back in his chair smiling a disarming smile. "Would you like to talk about it?"

No, Ridley would not, especially with this smarmy little weasel. Who did he think he was kidding? He could see right through the human's little charade but maybe he could use this to his advantage somehow?

Why not? This could fun. For Ridley that was, not the snotty human sitting in front of him.

"Okay," he said, sitting down across from the human scientist. "What would you like to know?"

"Just start from the beginning."

Ridley needed no further encouragement." All right then," he said, smirking. "I'll do just that."

The man leaned toward him, all ears.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

So what was your first impression once you awakened in the Federation lab?" Dr. Arms asked Ridley, the doctor leaning back in his chair and holding up what looked like a note pad and a pencil. "I mean what were you thinking when you opened your eyes and discovered you were in a tank?"

"You really want to know?" the space pirate sneered at him. "It sucked, that was my first impression."

"Is that why you reacted the way you did?" the doctor pressed more than midly interested. "Tried to escape and then became violent when people prevented you from doing so?"

"I'm sure you would feel the same way if you woke up in a strange place surrounded by beings you had as enemies for a long time who told you they brought you back to life and put you in a body that was very different from the original." Ridley placed a hand on the table, eying the disgusting fleshy texture and the five fingers. "Or would you just sit there complacently?"

"Hmmm.." the man wrote something down on the pad. "I see what you mean," he admitted. "But I'm sure you knew they wouldn't have hurt you."

"Oh, would I?" he asked him, his voice revealing a hint of mocking contempt. "and how would I have known that, pray tell?"

"Well, why would they have gone through so much effort to bring you back if they intended on harming you?"

This human had a point but from the way everything had gone down since he was resurrected he was sure his doubts were founded. They did intend to do something to him one way or another. Either by forcing him to cooperate because "they owned him" as it was pretty obvious or doing something far worse if that didn't work.

"Do I need to spell it out to you?" he asked him, leaning forward and eying the doctor in front of him. "I am a wanted criminal infamous among the galaxy and all its planets as being a sadistic and heartless monster that would gladly kill everything in front of me." he smirked, a unnerving gleam in his eyes. "They obviously wouldn't want me to get off with simply dying on Zebes in the planetary explosion. I should be punished and they will punish me." he looked at his hands and clenched them into fists. "even if I do give them whatever it is they want in the end, when my usefulness is gone I will be put on trial for everything." he got up, leaning closer to the man, invading the doctor's space. "and they will give me my sentence."

The man looked over his glasses at Ridley, looking completely unbothered by the way the pirate commander was acting. "I think you're just being too paranoid," the man told him."It took them a lot of time and patience to bring you back. It is unlikely they will do what you are insinuating."

"Of course you would say that," he hissed. "You are on their payroll."

"Whether I am on their payroll or not," he said to him, calmly. "I also wish to listen to your problems and do my best to dispel them."

Ridley laughed at him, a cold mocking laugh. "You really think you can do that?" he asked him. "You must be more naive than I thought if you believe you can accomplish such bull." he sneered at him. "My fears are founded, Federation Pawn, and nothing you say will make them go away."

"Tell me about your fears then, Ridley," the man encouraged.

"Oh, I'll do more than that, human," Ridley stated, grinning evilly. "Why don't I show you?"

"and how do you intend to do that?"

Ridley's smile too on a look of twisted glee as he reached across the table to grasp the scientist's neck in his pale clawed hand. He pulled the man's face toward his, speaking in a hushed tone that held more than a bit of malice.

"I'm afraid if I continue to be confined here I will take more than the usual amount of pleasure in killing all of you pathetic hairless apes," he hissed. "It will be very brutal." his yellow eyes got a sinister glow now. "for all of you."

Dr. arms eyes widened and he spoke through the choke hold. "There's no reason to do that,"he told him, his voice holding a hint of fear. "If you simply do what they want you to do nothing bad will happen."

"But I don't want to do what they want," Ridley informed him as if talking to a child. "It would be very bad for me. You see I hate all of you and I feel I have no reason to behave myself here. I intend to do what I want and that is killing everyone here." his grip began to tighten."I believe I will start with you."

But just as he was about to end Dr. Arms' life the door behind him burst open and the two federation officers who'd come with them rushed him, tackling him hard to the floor. He let out a high pitched shrieking sound as he struggled with him.

Dr. arms pulled backward, holding his neck he saw Dr. Ivory standing in the doorway giving him a look that said. "I told you so."

Ridley kicked out at one of the officers who dodged the blow and punched the spare pirate commander in the face. His head jerked backward as stars filled his vision. It wasn't too long afterward that they managed to get the best of him and knock him out cold.

Dr,. Ivory glared at Dr arms for a moment then turned her attention to the officers holding the unconscious Ridley up by his arms. "Get him out of here." she ordered.

As they took him out she turned back to the other scientist. "I don't know what you thought you could accomplish with any of this but you only made things worse," she informed him coldly. "You should be thanking me for sending them in when I did because otherwise you would be dead right now."

The she turned on ehr heel and left the room before he could say anything.

* * *

By the time Castor Dane reached the Federation building it was getting dark.

The Fleet Admiral entered the High Commander's chambers after being led there by the superior officer's secretary. He stood in front of the man's desk, his hands behind his back, completely professional. "You wanted to speak with me, sir?"

The High Commander turned his his chair to face Dane. "I appreciate you coming down here on your day off, Admiral," the man said, standing so he and the other man could see eye to eye. "I know how you must feel to be pulled away from your family at such short notice like this but I promise this won't take long."

Dane didn't exactly believe the man's promise of this being a short visit. He was well aware of what that meant for the other man. If he said it wouldn't take long it usually meant it would take from ten minutes to four hours or more. Of course he said nothing about it, knowing it wouldn't be a good idea to do so.

"As you know," the high Commander began. "what with the destruction of Mother Brain and the planet of Zebes a large percentage of the Space Pirates have been destroyed. While this is good news and a huge relief to the Federation, it has recently come to our knowledge that that isn't as true as we thought."

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"I mean," he said. "That there remains a rather large percentage of Space Pirate strongholds scattered throughout the galaxy."

Dane's eyes widened. "How can that be?"

"They tricked us." the high commander replied. "All of us. Those devils somehow predicted what we would do and were prepared for it."

"What are we going to do?"

"What can we do? We don't know where these pockets are located. The galaxy a large place. They could be anywhere." he paused. "But we believe we have a way of finding them."

"How?"

The man stepped around the desk and headed for the door. "Come with me."

The High Commander led Fleet Admiral Dane to the science building not too far from the Main Federation building. As they stepped inside Dane noticed right away the place was quieter than usual for that time of the day. He looked around, spotting not a single scientist.

"Did the science team go home early?" he asked his superior officer.

"Most of them have," he told them. "except for a special team who is busy with something very important."

"Oh?" he eyed the other man curiously. "and what would that be?"

"You'll find out in a few minutes."

A few moments later the two federation officers entered another lab in the center of the building. as they stepped inside he looked around, seeing nothing.

"Doctor, are you here?" the high commander called out.

A few seconds later a red haired woman wearing glasses and a long white lab coat came out from behind a large tank. She eyed admiral Dane silently as the high commander said. "Dane, this is Dr. Ivory. She is the head scientist behind a very important project the Federation has been working on."

Castor Dane looked from one to the other. Important project? What was he talking about?

"Doctor, why don't you show Admiral Dane what you and your team have been working on?"

The woman continued stare silently at Castor for a moment before turning. "Follow me, gentlemen."

Near the back of the room was a small area that had a large thick plated glass window to look into. The woman led the two over to the window and pressed a button so the shading of the window vanished and they could see inside. Admiral Dane looked inside and saw a figure sitting in the back corner. It wore a rumpled Federation uniform over it's long and slender frame. The person had odd purple tinted skin and long white feather like hair. It stared back at him with highly intelligent yellow eyes that seemed hauntingly familiar. He also noticed it looked as if it had been in some kind of fight. One eye was blackened and his face was covered in bruises.

"I apologize for his condition," the woman told them. "we had a little trouble with him earlier and had to get rough."

"Who is that?" Admiral Dane questioned.

"A very valuable specimen," the female scientist replied.

He looked at her, wondering what she meant by that.

"What Dr. ivory means is that we went through a lot of trouble to obtain it," his superior officer responded."For awhile we believed there was nothing remaining of the original but we were lucky."

What was he talking about.? "The original?" he looked back at the person inside the cell, noticing that it's wrists and ankles were being restrained by high tech manacles. "Just what is that thing?" he asked them both, dreading the answer he might get.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?"the High Commander asked him. "The creature residing inside that cell is none other than Space Pirate Commander Ridley."

Castor Dane's eyes grew wide and he took a step away from the cell. "Pirate Commander Ridley?!" he exclaimed in utter disbelief. When his superior officer nodded he demanded. "Are you insane?! Why in the world would you do such a thing?!"

The High Commander looked at Dane calmly. "The pirate Commander we came to learn has knowledge of very important information that will prove vital to the Federation. We brought him back as a means of accessing it."

Dane looked back at Ridley then at his superior officer. "And the only way to get it was through bringing him back?!" he demanded, unable to control his anger. "You are aware how dangerous he is, aren't you?"

"Which is why he was given the body you see here," the other man told him, still calm."As you can see, he was not brought back in any form even resembling his original. It's a harmless human body."

Dane had gotten a pretty good look at the "harmless human form" and had been quick to notice it had not looked completely human. The body had some reptilian features as well which made him lack faith in the high commanders words. "Then why is he shackled?"

The other man gave him a patient smile. "One can't be too careful, now can they?" he asked him.

No, they couldn't, but the fact he was being restrained made Castor question the truth of the statement about Ridley being harmless. If he was indeed brought back properly, and he didn't know they accomplished that to begin with, then he'd also retain his ruthless traits as well as his very high intellect. Castor took one last look in at Ridley, knowing his theory was correct just by getting a good look at the pirate's eyes. They glowed with fierce intensity and he could just tell the being was already devising some kind of plan to liberate himself from his confinement.

He asked him one last question because he felt he had to. "and what will you do if Samus Aran finds out about this?"

The other man smiled. "She's not going to."

 _Yeah_ , Dane thought. _I wouldn't bet on that._

* * *

Great, another Federation officer to stare at him like he was some kind of freak. Ridley glared at the man looking in the window at him with contempt. He looked oddly familiar though Ridley couldn't quite remember where he'd seen him before.

He watched the three humans outside the cell, talking, though unfortunately he couldn't hear a word they were saying due to the speakers being shut off. The new guy looked upset about something, judging from the look on his face and his body language.

 _Hmmm, now what do we have here?_ he thought, wishing he could hear what was being said between them. It could be very interesting.

But unfortunately he couldn't hear anything and it would stay that way. He would just have to accept it and watch them, drawing his own conclusions from their facial expressions and body language.

Soon the Federation officers left, both still looking like they were having a heavy discussion as they headed for the door. The female scientist, her back turned to the window, seemed to be watching them go and didn't make any movements of her own until the laboratory door was shut and the men were gone.

Once they were gone the female turned to the window and raised her arm to press the speaker button. "You're probably in there wondering what that little visit was all about, aren't you?"

He was but he wasn't about to admit it, not to her. Besides she'd probably tell him anyway if he took too long to give her an answer.

When he said nothing she did indeed tell him, going into a rather detailed description of the entire conversation. When she named the other officer his ears pricked with interest. Fleet Admiral Castor Dane. He knew the man looked familiar. He also knew that if the man knew somebody else would be finding out eventually. Somebody who had become a rather predictable routine in his life.

He wondered, with a rather perverse interest, how she would feel about it all.

* * *

Samus' apartment looked the same as when she'd left it months ago. The moment she stepped into the living space she paused a moment to just breath and enjoy the peace of the apartment's inviting atmosphere. When she'd moved in she'd intentionally furnished it with things that reminded her of the planet she grew up on. ,Returning allowed her to keep a small piece of home, even with the planet gone.

She just wished she'd been able to prevent the destruction of the real one. But that was all in the past now and it wouldn't do her any good to dwell on it.

Sighing, she entered the small kitchen unit of the apartment and opened the fridge which was empty aside from a few items which had gone bad along time ago. She closed the door, realizing she should have gone shopping before she came home. Now she didn't have anything to eat.

Ah well, she could always order something. In the meantime she just wanted to get a nice hot shower and then relax for awhile.

With that in mind she left the kitchen and headed into her bathroom. After showering and putting on her robe she went into her bedroom and flopped onto the bed with a sigh. It felt good to finally be able to sleep in a real bed again, though she knew it wouldn't last too long, what with her work schedule but maybe nobody would hire her for awhile and she could simply take it easy.

Samus closed her eyes and within minutes was sound asleep.

* * *

The sound of Samus' communication system beeping woke her from her sleep. Groaning she got out of bed and went to answer the message. She stumbled out of her room and over to the communication device sitting in the living room. she hit the button and a hologram activated before her eyes. She stared at the figure on the other end, somewhat surprised to see Castor Dane was contacting her.

"Admiral Dane," she said, unable to hide her surprise."I didn't expect to hear from you."

"I wouldn't have bothered you, Samus," the Federation official responded. "if what I had to tell you wasn't of great importance."

By the strained tone in his voice she could sense something was wrong. Had something happened? "What's the matter?" she asked him.

"Remember when High Command summoned me?" he asked her. When she nodded he continued. "Well when I was brought in my superior took me to the Federation labs and showed me something they have been working on for the past few months." he frowned. "They made me leave the planet tonight, sending me and my crew on a mission because they didn't want me to tell you. I have only just managed to get away so I can send you this message through a private channel. You're not going to like what they showed me..."

 _A/N_

 _and things are beginning to move forward. Let me know what you think so far, I'd appreciate the feedback._


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Samus burst into the high commanders office and stormed over to the man's desk, slamming her hands onto the smooth wooden surface and looking the man right in the eyes. "How could you be so _irresponsible_?"

The man looked up at her with a look that plainly said he'd been expecting her. "So Admiral Dane contacted you after all, didn't he?" hen said calmly.

"Of _course_ he did!" she snapped at him. "Did you really think you could keep this hidden from me, think I wouldn't find out?" she leaned toward him, blue eyes flashing. "I risked my life to rid the galaxy of one of it's greatest threats and you went and brought it back! Do you even understand that you have put the entire galaxy in danger once more?!"

Before he could answer his secretary came in, looking unsettled. "I'm sorry, sir," she told him. "I tried to stop her."

"It's fine." he told the woman.

"Should I call security?"

"No," he waved her off. "It's fine. I am sure Miss Aran won't do anything she'll regret." he looked at her."Isn't that right, Miss Aran?"

She glared at him, wanting to hit him but restraining herself. She wasn't a child anymore and such a reaction would only make things worse for her. She straightened up to her full six foot three inch height and stared him down. "Of course not," she said through clenched teeth.

The man shot the secretary a reassuring look and she left them alone but not without giving Samus another worried glance.

"Now, Miss Aaran," the high commander said once they were alone again, his elbows rested on the desk top and he steepled his fingers, looking over them at her. "I understand your feelings about this, as Ridley has been the cause of much of the anguish in your life, but I can assure you that everything is under control here. The pirate commander is no danger to us."

"And how are you so sure of that?" she demanded, knowing full well nobody could control something as unpredictable as that cursed space dragon.

The man stood up. "Why don't you come with me and I'll show you?"

Samus was still angry about the news she received and his admittance that she nearly declined by telling him where to shove it but decided better of it. She chose instead to take him up on his offer. It would enable her to access the situation better and help her plan out her next course of action should their little experiment go awry.

"Show me."

* * *

The High commander with Samus in toe headed to the Galactic Federation labs. Since it was morning the place was bustling with activity and scientists moved this way and that as they went about their tasks. Samus kept a sharp eye on all of them, no longer able to trust a single person there.

They'd brought back Ridley which was a stupid idea. For some of the best and brightest minds in the Federation they sure made a lot of foolish decisions.

When they entered Dr. Ivory's lab the woman looked up and froze when she saw who had come in. The high commander and none other than Samus Aran. The commander's presence didn't bother her but Samus' did. If she was there it meant someone had told her about what they were doing and that only further complicated things.

The female scientist quickly got up from her computer desk an rushed over to greet the pair. "Good morning Commander," the woman said. "Good morning... Miss Aran. What brings you here?"

"Miss Aran wants to see what we have been working on," the man told her before the bounty hunter could even open her mouth.

Dr. Ivbory looked unsure of this. "Do you think-"

The man cut her off. "Please."

She took note of the tone of his voice and then nodded slowly. "Follow me, please."

She led them over to where Ridley was being held and stepped back to allow Samus a good look inside. The tallerwoman stepped forward and looked inside.

Inside she saw a humanoid looking figure huddled in a corner. He stared at her with hate filled golden eyes. Samus stared back, a growing sense of dread filling her chest. It knew her and she knew him even though his body was much different now. No other being ever gave off such a negative vibe. That hatred and loathing was so strong it felt like a wave washing over her.

She turned her attention to the scientist and the high commander and spoke in a voice that told them all they needed to know about how she felt about this. "What have you done?"

"Brought back an valuable asset," the commander replied.

"Valuable?" she demanded. "You're playing with fire bringing that thing back!"

"Nonsense," the man said. "We ensured he wouldn't be a problem by purposely giving him a human body."

Samus looked back inside and noticed how beat up he looked. "No?" she asked. "Then why does he look like he's been in a fight?" she pointed at the confined creature. "Obviously he's more a problem than you are letting on!"

"Nothing we can't deal with," the scientist told her somewhat snobbishly. "We've placed a few things on him to ensure further incidents don't happen."

Samus frowned and nearly argued with her about the legitimacy of that statement but instead remarked. "Oh? Do tell."

The female scientist looked like she would be happy to do so but the high commander stopped her. "Miss Aran that information is classified."

"Classified?" she demanded, rounding on him. "Ridley has been a part of my life for a long time, I believe it's my business to know what you intend to do with him."

"Actually, Miss Aaran, it isn't," he told her patiently. "Even though you have dealt with Ridley many times over the course of your career that was because he was in your way and a threat. He is no longer a threat and is no longer your concern."

Samus looked ready to argue but then decided it would be pointless to do so. These people obviously thought what they were doing, whatever it was, was important and nothing she said would change their minds. She looked back into the cell noticing Ridley was still watching her.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she said though everything in her voice and expression said she knew they didn't.

"Don't you worry about that," the man said in a somewhat condescending voice. "I think it's time you left."

When he started to lead her away she pulled from him with disgust. "Don't trouble yourself," she bit out, her voice betraying her disgust. "I can see myself out."

The female bounty hunter then turned and headed to the exit, her boots slapping the floor in a loud crescendo.

* * *

That had been Samus! Ridley realized after the woman had gone.

He hadn't recognized her right away due to the fact he'd only seen her face once a long time ago when she was only fifteen but after giving it some thought he'd realized it was her. Those sharp blue eyes could be recognized from miles away. She'd found out about him after all and from the look on her face she wasn't happy about it.

That had given him a sick form of pleasure. Poor Samus, thinking her nightmare was over only to discover the being from her night terrors was still alive and kicking. He grinned rather wickedly at the thought.

 _Poor poor Samus._

He could have spent the afternoon relishing in this bit of knowledge but he chose to focus on other things. Samus at that moment wasn't important. He had other fish to fry. But first he decided it would be a good idea to focus on everything around him and work out a way of escaping this place before the Galactic Federation decided to use him for whatever it was they thought he would willingly help them with.

Fat chance of that.

What exactly did they want from him anyway? What kind of information did they think he could or would give them?

He didn't know right now but he was sure that he would soon find out.

Outside his cell Dr. Ivory and the federation high commander were discussing what they should do with him now that Samus knew of his existence.

"There's nothing we can do about that now," the commander told the scientist. "She has been macde aware of it and has made her feelings clear. The best we can hope for now is hope that she will not involve herself further."

"And if she does?" the scientist wanted to know. "What if she decides to ensure he's never a problem again by coming back and-"

"I doubt she will," the man cut her off.

"How are you so sure?" she questioned him.

"Because she's not that foolish." he responded. "Don't worry about Miss Aran. She'll leave it alone if she knows what's good for her. Only a fool would do what you're implying and Samus is no fool."

The woman looked into the cell at Ridley, frowning. "I hope you're right about that."

* * *

"So they had to go and play with fire, pulling such a stunt," Samus said a few hours later. She was sitting on her sofa, arms folded and legs crossed as she spoke to Castor Dane on the communicator. "What were they thinking?"

The small hologram of the Fleet Admiral flickered as the man shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Samus," he said. "But I think they believe he can help them."

"Help them with what?" she demanded.

"Space Pirates."

"Space Prates?" she exclaimed.

"Maybe they believe he knows where the rest of them are located," he told her. "They might want him to give them the information so they can find and rid the galaxy of them for good."

The female bounty hunter shook her head. "He won't help them," she told him. "If they believe he will they're in for an unpleasant surprise."

"I think they're aware he won't cooperate," he reposted. '"If those shackles they have on him are any indication, they're not taking any chances."

Samus sighed. "If I know Ridley, and I do more than anyone else, those restraints won't keep him confined for long. He will figure out how to get free and when he does those responsible for what he will perceive as humiliation better watch out."

"I believe you," Castor responded. "And that's what scares me the most."

Samus looked out the window of her apartment down at the city below. "The real question is, when?"

She would get the answer to that question very soon.

* * *

Samus and Castor Dane had good reason to worry. Even as everyone went about their day, doing their routines Ridley sat in the cell at the lab, wracking his brain, planning his next move. He was getting out of there no matter what and he didn't care what the consequences were. He wasn't going to stay in there any longer if he could help it.

So he sat there, eying the restraints holding his wrists together, taking in the entire structure of it, knowing they, like anything, had a flaw and he would exploit it. Once he found it he was just another step closer to getting out of this place and to freedom.

He looked up to make sure nobody was keeping an eye on him but all the scientists, even the annoying female one, were busy with their attention elsewhere.

RIdley smiled.

Good.

The Space Pirate turned his attention back to the shackles on his wrists. After a few more moments of intense scrutiny he spotted a minor flaw in the design and got to work exploiting it _._

 _I'll be so happy when I'm out of here!_

* * *

"It's about time we put the space pirate to good use."

"But Commander, with how he has reacted so far it wouldn't be wise to-"

"I don't want to hear that! We brought him back for a reason and it's been long enough. We know he's not going to suddenly relapse into uselessness by now so we need to make our move and if he doesn't cooperate he'll just have to convinced that it's in his best interest."

It was evening and the higher ups for the Galactic Federation were having a meeting in the high commander's office on their next course of action. The highest ranking officer felt that now that Samus was aware of the space pirate's existence it was time to move ahead before the female bounty hunter decided to take her own course of action.

Some agreed with him while others voiced opposition to the suggestion.

"Samus isn't that foolish," one pointed out. "I don't believe she would risk her good standing with the Federation by taking it upon herself to deal with Ridley."

"I disagree," another spoke up. "The space pirate has been part of her life for a long time. She's dealt with him so many times and was unable to take him down until recently. I am certain she will do anything to ensure his demise is permanent this time."

There were murmurs around the room.

"If you believed that," another man spoke up. "Why don't you have people watching her? You know where she lives, I'd expect you to have some kind of security detail keeping an eye on her which you don't."

"Samus is not the issue here," the high commander spoke up. "we're here to discuss our next course of action about the space pirate. It's about time we bring him before the board and question him about the remaining pockets of space pirates around the galaxy. You know as well as I do that he knows where they are. Given the right incentive he will be willing to tell us everything."

"I don't think he will," the other man argued. "With his current state he will feel no desire to say anything."

The higher ranking official smiled. "He will after we tell him we can fix that."

The room went silent until one of the men asked. "What do you mean?"

"It's simple. We have enough DNA left over from the remains we managed to salvage after Zebes was destroyed to recreate his old body if we so desired to. All we have to tell him is that we will make him an exact replica of his body and transfer his mind into it."

The room filled with murmurs once more until the first man asked. "And will we do this for him?"

The high commander's answer was simply. "No. But he doesn't need to know that."

Nobody said anything.

"Now," the high commander said. "I think it's time we contact the lab and let them know we wish to have a little talk with our space pirate."

With that the meeting came to an end as the Federation officials stood and moved toward the exit.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

While the federation higher ups were discussing their next course of action Ridley was putting his own plan into motion. He'd managed to crack into the coding on the cuffs around his wrists and even got them opened at one point. Of course he didn't want his captors to know this so he'd out them back on but made sure the sleeves on the federation uniform's shirt put some distance between them and his skin. Now that he'd managed to crack their code he just had to wait for his chance to put his plan into action.

He hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long.

"Come on," he muttered, looking up at the window of the cell. "Come and get me, you whore."

He waited for quite awhile for her to actually show up and had nearly fallen asleep when he became aware of the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall toward the lab where he was being held.

Ridley chanced a peek out. The woman had sat down in front of one of the computers and was looking at the screen. It looked like she was going to be there for quite awhile.

No big deal, he could wait. if there was one thing he was used to it was waiting.

The woman continued to work on the computer a little while more then got up and left. Not too long after that a few other scientists entered the room and a few of them headed toward the cell.

Ridley they intended to check on him that would be the last mistake they ever made.

* * *

Dr. Ivory was heading toward the exit, ready to clock off for the day when she was suddenly startled by a loud high pitched noise. She clapped her hands to her ears as the lights flickered and then went out. As the place plunged into darkness before the generators kicked in he ears were assaulted by another sound, the sound of screams. She froze in place, the shrieks echoing around her. It didn't take her long to figure out what it was.

"No..." she whispered.

The female scientist spun around and rushed back to her lab without another thought. Hopefully she'd get there before it was too late. But when she got there she abruptly came to a stop, staring in horror at what she saw before her.

Bodies of her colleges lay scattered in a bloody mess around the room. In the midst of the bloody mess a figure sat hunched over with it' back to her. By the look of the rumpled federation uniform she knew exactly who it was.

"Ridley." she gasped.

The space pirate turned to her, his face covered in blood. she also saw the blood running down his face from his mouth. As she stared in horror he smirked and then moved his mouth, assaulting her ears with a crunching sound. She gasped in horror and backed up a step, realizing what had happened.

Just then he rushed at her. She turned to run but he caught her by the arm and yanked her back, forcing her to look at him. She stared into his glowing yellow eyes as he grinned, showing off his sharp blood stained teeth. "Going somewhere, Professor?" he asked, his voice a mocking hiss. "we haven't even had our fun."

Dr. Ivory shoved at him with her free hand, making him let her go. she fell backward and landed on the floor. She landed on her side and forced herself up, groping inside her lab coat. When he grabbed her again she pulled the control for his shackles out of her pocket and aimed it at him, hitting the button hard.

Nothing happened.

Her eyes grew large as his smile widened. "What's the matter, Professor?" he asked. "something wrong with your little toy?"

She shoved him away again and hit the button once more but still nothing happened. She swore hitting it again and again and getting the same results.

"Don't bother," he told her, coming back toward her again. "I already disarmed your little toys." he laughed as the buttons on the bracelets on his wrists remained red. "You no longer have any advantage here."

* * *

The federation officials had just entered the science building when they realized the place was unusually quiet and the lights were acting up,flickering on and off.

"What was that?" one of the men asked.

Before any of them could volunteer an answer a scream ripped the silence. Two lower ranking officers touting guns instantly took off down the hall with the others rushing after them.

A moment later the group of men came to a compete stop when they came upon Dr. ivory laying sprawled out on the floor in the doorway of her lab. She was covered in blood.

The two men with the guns rushed over to check on her, one placing a hand on her neck. he urned to the other men saying in a relieved voice. "She's alive."

The men exchanged relieved expressions as the two soldiers helped the woman into a sitting position and tried to wake her by gently slapping her cheeks.

While they did so one of the other officers stepped past her and looked at the bodies laying on the floor in the lab. "What happened here?" he asked, completely taken aback by the carnage.

The high commander stepped into the lab and noticed the door to the cell that had housed ridley was open. He stared into the empty room, eyes growing wide with the realization. "No..."

Ridley was gone.

* * *

Ridley had been bout to kill the women when he'd heard the sound of running footsteps. He would have stuck around to face them but there had been quite a lot of them and he decided it would not be wise to stick around to do so. so instead he'd jumped over the woman, to which she'd fainted, and took off in the opposite direction down the corridor. Now that he as free he intended to stay that way.

Confronting the federation forces would only put an end to it.

So he turned and ran toward one of the other exists, hoping he didn't run into anyone on the way. He really didn't have the time to deal with anymore interruptions. He just wanted to get out of there.

Hopefully he wouldn't have and trouble getting out this time. He rushed toward the docking bay to find himself a ship.

The place was empty of all activity but he was cautious anyway, remembering the event from the previous day. He didn't want to go through a repeat of that.

But luck seemed to be smiling on him this time and the place was empty. No soldiers came to stop him and he even managed to find a ship but as unable to get inside. Ridley swore and punched the side of the ship in anger.

Now what?

He stood back, studying the ship. It seemed to have a panel on the side for typing in a code. he leaned closer, studying it carefully. Maybe he could figure out the code and get inside? He sure hoped it was an easy one.

Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, getting louder as they drew closer. he turned his head and swore. They were coming and he wasn't looking forward to it. He turned back to the ship and started randomly punching in numbers, hoping he'd eventually get the right code.

Suddenly it was as if he were seeing it through an inferred scope. A series of numbers on the keypad lit up brighter than the others. He instantly started hitting those buttons in random patterns until there was a satisfying beeping sound and the ship's entrance hissed open.

Just then he heard shouting behind him and looked over his shoulder to spot some federation forces rushing toward him. Without another thought he jumped into the ship and hit the button to close the door. It hissed shut and he rushed up to the control panel, hitting the power button. it lit up in front of him and he pressed the buttons to get the ship up and running.

As it began to rise off the ground he heard vices yelling outside the ship and banging on the hull. he ignored the sounds, focusing on just getting out of there. he hit the controls with all of his fingers and the ship began to slowly turn toward the exit portal. the engines began to power up more and he gritted his teeth pulling the control stick forward. The ship shuddered slightly then in a burst of speed that nearly knocked the space pirate off his feet it raced toward the exit.

He held on, gripping the stick and digging his feet into the floor to keep his balance. only seconds later the ship burst out of the exit portal and into the sky.

Ridley didn't relax until he was out of the planet's atmosphere. Once he was out in space he let out a breath he was holding and slumped to the floor of the ship. He wasn't out of the woods yet, since he was still in view of the federation planet but he had to take a breath for a moment and let his brain work on his next course of action.

He knew the federation wasn't going to let him get away. They would come after him and find him. He didn't have much time to get moving. He got back up after a moment and went back to the controls, his mind working speedily.

He had to disappear and fast, just go out into deep space and vanish. Where he didn't care just as long as It put as much distance between himself and the federation as possible.

With that in mind he set a course and got the ship moving, warping quickly out of federation space.

* * *

Samus was nearly expecting the call hen it came the next morning and didn't look even a little surprised when she picked up and heard the news about ridley's escape from the federation labs the previous night.

She focused on the little holographic image flickering before her and stated knowingly. "He escaped."

The figure in the image gave her a look of surprise. "How did you know?"

"Because I know ridley," she replied. "and because I know him I knew he wouldn't allow himself to remain a prisoner forever."

The figure said nothing.

"No, why don't you tell me what you contacted me for, as if I didn't already know," she continued. "I might be willing to help you... for a price."

Of course, and it would be a large amount too if they actually hired her for the job. She'd also make then sign something that whatever she did to him after she found him wouldn't be used against her ever. The man on the other end made a pained expression as if that were what he was afraid she was going to say that.

This bit of body language actually gave her a small form of satisfaction. she was making him uncomfortable and that was a good thing. After that foolish stunt his superiors had pulled he deserved to be uncomfortable. "Well?" she said, leaning toward the hologram. "what do you have to say? Do you want my help or not."

He looked like he was about to answer when another person stepped into the hologram and spoke in. "No."

She was startled by this answer. "No?"

"No." the other said, nodding. "we won't be needing your help, Miss Aran."

 _Then why did you bother contacting me?!_

Samus did not say this though. She pretty much concluded that the reason they called her was to hire her for it but something had happened between the time they called her and during her conversation that made them change their minds. She just had to wait and see what excuse they were going to give her.

It didn't really matter. Even if they had decided not to have her go after ridley for them she fully intended to do so anyway. She felt it was her responsibility to deal with Ridley as he was a part of her life and thus her problem even if they didn't think so.

 _I hope you don't think I am just going to sit back and do nothing about it._

She figured it would be a good idea to find out what they did plan on doing about Ridley so she leaned forward and asked. "If you don't want me to help you find him how exactly do you plan on accomplishing it?"

"We have perfectly skilled people competent enough to deal with this," was the answer she got.

"Oh?" she asked, interested now."and who would that be?"

"It doesn't really concern you, Miss Aran." the man responded. 'But they are highly skilled people with plenty of experience, that is all you need to know."

Samus inwardly doubted the man's claim but didn't bother arguing it. Instead she simply said. "For your sake I hope you're right." before she ended the call before the man could say another word.

The woman got up and went into the kitchen unit of her apartment where she took a deep breath and slammed her fist against the wall to release the pent up frustration inside her.

Ridley had gotten free just as she knew he would. Why did nobody ever listen to her about these things? Bringing him back had been such a bad idea and now they were regretting the very thing that could have been avoided by leaving well enough alone.

Why did the Federation always do things to make her job harder?

Samus took a few deep breaths to clam herself before dropping her arm and opening to fridge where she took out a carton of milk and drank right from it. She was going to have to do something about Ridley. She knew the federation said they didn't need her for this but she didn't care.

She had to take care of this herself, no matter what they said or did. It didn't matter. All that mattered was dealing with ridley, once and for all. Samus put the milk back into the carton and headed out of her apartment.

Time to get involved and she knew exactly how she was going to do this.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Ridley stared at the built in map on the computer's monitor, frowning with frustration. He didn't know why but he couldn't make heads or tails or any of it. Back when he'd been a space pirate he wouldn't have had any trouble with it at all but now... something was preventing him from understanding it.

He swore and slammed his fist down on the console in frustration. That blasted Federation! Not only had they given him a completely useless body they had also gotten rid of all his skills! Oh he was so looking _forward_ to making them pay and they _would_ pay.

Ridley turned his attention back to the map, concentrating on all the small pixelated images on the screen. He still had no idea what he was looking at or even where he was. Great just great. So he decided to just choose a planet and hope wherever he wound up it would be away from the Federation and they wouldn't think of looking for him there.

But nearly every planet that was known of was part of the Federation and it was likely they'd send someone anywhere he might choose even if they didn't know he was there. It didn't help that even in this form he had he would still stand out pretty bad. He swore under his breath.

 _Curse that Federation!_

Why did they have to make things so hard for him? He would have figured that getting all his memories back would have given him back his other skills but it seemed that whatever had made his memories briefly disappear was not the same thing blocking the rest of his previous knowledge.

Ridley sighed, leaning back in the pilot's chair and rubbing his forehead tiredly. It seemed he would have to be patient and let his mind fully recover from what had happened. Now that he thought about it, this was normal as it had happened before. Not to him but someone else. It had taken them nearly a month to regain all their memories and skills.

He sure hoped it wouldn't take him that long.

Ridley turned his attention back to the star chart, groping through his mind for any answers. He knew the names of the planets, most of them anyway, but what they were for or who inhabited them was making him draw a blank. Every time it seemed he was close to remembering something he would suddenly forget it.

He was getting very frustrated with the whole thing.

But he was determined to keep it from bothering him anymore. He placed his fingers on the keyboard and began to type out some commands. Every name for every star and planet appeared by the images and he sighed in relief.

Well that was a start.

He carefully scrutinized the stars and planets orbiting them, being sure to pay close attention to the little footnotes that gave basic information for each world. Each planet looked like a perfect place to hide but he was certain the Federation had establishments on most of them.

Or all.

But he couldn't be too picky. He had to chose and if he ran into trouble from any Federation forces he would just have to deal with it. How... well he would figure that part out when the time came.

Eventually he chose a planet, a wandering one that didn't orbit any particular star. It seemed to be a fair distance out of the way and the least likely place to look. With that decided he typed in a command and sat back as the ship went into warp drive

* * *

Samus had left the Federation homeworld before she'd run into anyone who would have prevented her from doing so. She knew the Federation would have tried to stop her from going after Ridley since they somehow believed that she no longer had any claim to him so she'd been sure to get to her ship and take off within an hour. Now that she was in space she felt better.

The bounty hunter scrutinized the map of the galaxy hovering on the screen in front of her, planning. Ridley would likely go to a far away planet to hide, one that didn't get much attention from the Federation. Unfortunately there were a lot of planets that fit that criteria which only served to complicate things.

Her only choice was to go to each of those planets and see if she could find him.

Samus sat back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. This was going to take awhile. There had to be a way to make things go faster. She scrutinized the map again, studying the stars and planets more carefully.

If Zebes still existed he might have gone there but, with the planet gone it was out of the question.

Would he have gone to Tallon IV? No, that was also unlikely. After what happened to him before on that planet he was likely to never want to see that place again. Plus she was pretty sure the ghosts on the planet would ensure he was chased back into space before he could even think about settling.

Two down, hundreds more to go.

Looked like it was time to get started. Samus reached up, typed in a command and then sat back to control the ship to the planet she'd chosen. As the ship went into warp speed she hoped to herself that when she got there she would find her target.

Failure was not an option.

* * *

A planet grew in the windshield of the ship Ridley has stolen. He stared down at it, noticing how it did not seem to be orbiting any star. He had never visited this one before and if he did he didn't remember doing so.

He turned to the screen reading out the name of the planet looming before him:

Aether

Yes, that name did sound familiar but he was still unable to figure out what it meant and forcing his brain to cough up the information was only giving him a headache. He gave up trying for the moment, deciding he could figure that all out later. This planet seemed to be a perfect place to hide. It was far out in the galaxy and out of the way. He allowed himself to smile.

 _Perfect._

He could hide there any nobody would find him. He doubted the locals on that planet knew anything about him or where he came from. They might even help him out which was good for him.

Ridley typed out a command on the console and then sat back to wait for the ship to enter the planet's atmosphere.

Hopefully the Federation wouldn't think to send anyone there.

* * *

Samus first stop was Bryyo. She wasn't sure why Ridley might be on the planet but it never hurt to be sure. She touched the ship down on a ruined landing pad and exited, looking around at the ruined Reptilicus architecture. She hadn't been too this planet since the phazon crisis and it didn't seem to have changed at all since, except for one thing.

A young Reptilicus was standing in the doorway of one of the buildings, watching her but doing nothing else. When she cautiously walked toward it expecting it to suddenly want to attack her it did no such thing. It continued to stand there, watching her.

Samus was aware that the planet's population had been reduced mindless feral animals after the collapse of their golden age and when she'd encountered them in the past they'd acted like that. But this one was different. It's eyes held intelligence and it seemed to be studying her as she approached, it's mind working out the proper course of action.

The female bounty hunter decided to take a chance with this thing and spoke to it. "Hello," she said.

The creature remained standing there, not running away or making any attempts to attack her.

She tried again. "Hello, do you understand me?"

Now it spoke, in a somewhat halting tone. "Y...essss."

It understood her and it could talk! That was both surprising and encouraging. If it understood her and could speak that meant it wasn't like the Reptilicus she'd met before. It might even be able to give her the information she needed on Ridley's whereabouts.

Figuring she had nothing to lose she walked closer to the being and began to ask it questions, careful on how she worded each one and what details she gave out. It would be pointless to hide anything from the youth, it had nothing to gain or lose from her doing so.

The Reptilicus listened to her explanation and question silently but she could tell he understood everything she said. When she'd finished talking it could only shake it's head at her and respond. 'N..ot he..re.."

Samus felt disappointment well up inside her. She'd really been hoping he was there because it would have made her search easier. "Are you sure?" she asked, describing Ridley's humanoid look once more just to be certain.

It gave the same answer as before. "N..ot.. he...re."

So much for that. She thanked the Reptilicus and headed back to her ship, working out her next course of actions. There were so many planets to visit and not enough time to see them all. She would have to try narrowing it down somehow.

The question was; How?

* * *

Ridley had a bit of trouble landing the ship on aether's surface. As it had entered the atmosphere a strong wind had hit the ship and blasted it with powerful gusts that nearly tore the ship apart as he struggled to keep control of it. He wound up gritting his teeth and hanging on tightly as the wind pushed him far from his actual destination and forced him to crash land in a swampy area. As he climbed out of the ship, he was instantly aware of quite a few rather dangerous looking creatures wandering about in the area.

Ridley ducked out of sight, in no real mood to deal with these ugly things. He'd had enough bad luck lately, he didn't need anymore if he could help it.

So the space pirate moved quickly and quietly in the opposite direction, being careful not to alert any of the more hostile wildlife of his presence. The weird horned being didn't even notice him, they seemed too busy fighting with each other in some kind of masculinity contest where they rushed each other and tried to gore their opponent with their horns. He had no need to worry but he did just to be safe.

Spotting as building of some kind in the distance he made his way quickly to it cautiously making his way around any creatures that might see him as a threat.

It was much easier than it sounded actually and he made it to the building without any trouble. Now that he'd reached it he noticed it looked like some kind of temple, the design and architecture giving off an otherworldly feeling. He wondered briefly who might have built it and what it was being used for now, as there seemed to be no signs of life in or around it to give him an idea of what the most intelligent creatures on the planet looked like.

He sat down in front of the temple and sighed, trying to figure out his next move. Maybe the most intelligent creatures on the planet didn't exist anymore. If that was the case then just maybe he wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. Nobody there would be smart enough to even think of telling the Federation about him.

Or maybe it didn't matter? What if he were a big secret and the Federation weren't going to make the natives aware of him at all. They might just go out looking and never give any in depth explanation for why they were looking for him.

Hopefully they never thought of going to Aether to look.

Ridley looked around himself, taking in the scenery. This was an interesting planet as it had light in the sky even though it wasn't anywhere near a star. He wondered how that was possible and figured something that lived there had had the intelligence to figure out a way to do that.

But where were they and were they even still alive? Had they all died off like he'd thought and left whatever it was that lit the planet just continue to run? What if it eventually ran out of power? The planet would be plunged into darkness and die.

Something told him maybe his first conclusion was wrong. The intelligent creatures were still on this planet and alive, he just had to look for them. But did he want to?

It was just a chance he would have to take. His mind made up, the space pirate stood and headed away from the temple, moving further into the swamp in hopes that he would run into whoever had created the technology to light the planet.

Ridley hadn't gone very far when he was suddenly seized by a burning pain in his body. He stumbled, wrapping his arms around himself. The pain increased and he cried out, nearly falling over. His mind began to flash awful images in his mind. Fire, Samus, an exploding planet! An explosive sound flooded his ears but it was from inside his head and no outside source. He stumbled once more until his feet came out from under him.

Ridley fell forward striking his head on a stone. Stars exploded in his vision and then darkness swooped in, invading his mind even as he attempted to stave it off. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a insectoid face with large eyes looking down at him.

 _A/N_

 _Come on now. I know there is people reading this thing. Would it really hurt to let me know if you like this story or not?_


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next two planet's Samus visited had come up empty. None of the inhabitants had been able to give the bounty hunter any information about her target. As she left a small planet called Charr she couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. Where was Ridley and how was she even going to find him?!

By continuing what she was doing now, was the only solution she could think of at the moment. She wished she had another answer but she didn't. The only thing she could do now was head to the next planet and ask the inhabitants if they had seen anybody who matched Ridley's new humanoid description. If it took her forever at least it was better than not trying at all.

"Maybe the next place I go to will have some information about him," she told herself as her ship flew through the vast void of space. "Because the longer it takes to find him the more likely it is he will disappear completely only to show up later and be a threat of some kind."

That was the last thing anybody needed.

Who was she kidding? He would _always_ be a threat, no mater what. As long as he lived, he could cause misery. His new body would not change that, what happened in the lab on the Federation home world proved that.

Samus shook her head. Why did the Federation have to continue making bad decisions? They always seemed to have some kind of death wish. She wouldn't be surprised if they'd cloned the baby metroid and had those clones hidden in a secret lab somewhere out in space.

Hopefully cloning Ridley never crossed their minds. That would end in disaster. Same went for cloning _metroids!_

But no sense worrying about it now. It wouldn't help her in her search for Ridley. She had to focus on the here and now, otherwise she wouldn't be of any good to anyone. Samus returned her attention to the star chart. Time to figure out where to go next.

* * *

Ridley had a nightmare about giant insects coming and taking him away. They'd grabbed him with their long hair arms and drug him off somewhere even as he fought against them. They were bigger and stronger than him and easily restrained him, taking him off into a dark cave where they then threw him into a deep dark pit and left him there to die. The last thing he saw of them before they vanished into the shadows were their large, red, glowing eyes.

The space pirate woke with a gasp. He sat up and found himself sitting on the floor of a small cave. He looked around himself, confused about his surroundings. Where was he and how did he get there?

He hard movement outside of the cave and started to get up to take a look but his head swam when he did and he sat back down, feeling dizzy. He'd gotten up too quickly and had been hit with a case of vertigo. He stayed still for a moment, head in his hands, as he waited for his vision clear back up. Once he felt better he got up, more slowly and went to the entrance of the cave to have a look.

He caught sight of something moving not too far away and he squinted, wanting to get a better picture. He could make out what looked like two large moth like beings moving about. His ears picked up a strange sound that he could only guess was their language, though he had no idea what either of the creatures were saying to each other.

What in the world were those things? He wondered, having no memory of such creatures at all.

Well whatever they were, they looked like giant moths. He watched them for awhile, realizing that they were much larger than he'd first assumed. Had he been in his real body that wouldn't have been a big deal but now that he was in a much smaller humanoid form it only served to cause him problems.

Like what would he do if they spotted him and decided he was a threat? He had no real way of defending himself against such large creatures if they decided to attack him. He just hoped they didn't get it in their heads to do so.

Another thought came to him just then and his tension eased up somewhat. What if those things were the ones who'd put him in the cave? If so they probably weren't planning on harming him since they'd been considerate enough to lay him down on something soft and even give him a blanket.

But why would they? he asked himself. That was pretty obvious. They were one of those nice and helpful creatures. Creatures he would have taken advantage of if he'd still been a commander for the space pirates and still had his original body.

If they were friendly he might be able to take advantage of their good graces. A smile started forming on his face. Not a bad idea! All he had to do was act like an harmless and innocent alien creature that crash landed on the planet and needed help. Half of that was true anyway and they didn't really need to know that he was a space pirate, it wasn't really any of their business anyway.

He would have to put that plan into action later because at that moment his head was starting to pound and he needed to lay back down until it stopped.

After a moment he felt better and got back up, returning to the entrance of the cave and looking outside. The moth creatures were no longer insight and he figured they'd gone off to do something more important. Who knew when they would be back, but in the meantime he could better familiarize himself with the area.

With that thought in mind he stepped out of the cave and headed down the gravel path that led to it.

Ridley hadn't gotten very far when he suddenly sensed a presence behind him. Turning he was startled by the sight of one of the moth beings standing right behind him. Surprised he stepped backward, tripping over a stone on the path and falling backward, landing on his rear.

The moth spoke just then but it was in that strange language and he had no idea what it was trying to say. It reached down and took his arm in it's hand, gently helping him to his feet. Once he was standing he stood there, staring up at the Aether native, still unable to say anything.

The moth creature seemed to sense that he couldn't understand it so it suddenly started to speak basic English. "Are you feeling better?"

"What?" Ridley asked, still staring, not knowing what the thing was talking about.

"You collapsed in the woods," the moth explained. "I brought you to my home so none of the predators in the Turvos Bog would harm you."

"You did-" he suddenly remembered the large thing that had been standing over him just before he had lost consciousness. "It was _you_!"

The moth nodded. "Yes," it said. "You seemed to be in some kind of distress before you collapsed. Might I ask what was the matter?"

The space pirate paused a moment, trying to remember what had happened. All he could remember was that he'd suddenly been in a lot of pain and had fallen over. How or why that had happened was beyond him. "I don't know," he told the creature. "It just happened."

The moth gave him a knowing look. "I understand."

Ridley wasn't sure this guy did but he wasn't going to argue with him about it, especially since this twelve foot tall creature could probably crush him if he got it mad.

"Are you feeling any better now?" the moth asked him again. "Since you are up and moving around, you must."

Ridley merely nodded.

The creature seemed satisfied with that. "very well the," it said. "I feel I should introduce myself. I am D-Lar of the Luminoth."

Ridley decided it would not be a good idea o give his real name, as these Luminoth might know of his reputation. "Rider," he told him.

"It's good to meet you, Rider," D-Lar says. "What brings you to Aether?"

Ridley had to think quickly. "I read about this place and I wanted to see it for myself," he lied.

D-Lar chuckled. "The planet has garnered a pretty interesting reputation lately," he said. "Especially after the calamity that nearly wiped out the entire planet."

"What calamity?" Ridley asked, curiously.

D-Lar proceeded to tell the story of the meteor impact that had created a dark version of the planet and the journey of the bounty hunter Samus Aran who had saved it from a horrible fate.

* * *

After visiting two more planets with no luck Samus was beginning to get frustrated. Where was Ridley? What planet had he chosen to hide on?

These question ran through the female bounty hunter's mind as she started at the hologram of the star chart in her ship. It was really beginning to feel hopeless and she didn't want to just give up. That was completely out of the question.

She had to find Ridley and she had to do it before the Federation did. When she did she would decide how to deal with him, whether ending his life permanently or sending him to a place where he would never be able to return from.

 _I just have to find him._ She looked back at the chart. There were still so many planets left to search. She touched the chart, randomly deciding on her next destination.

Aether.

Samus got the ship ready to head off to the planet of the Luminoth. It was very unlikely that Ridley would be on that planet but she was not going to take any chances. Her just might be there and if he was she would not be accused of being irresponsible and skipping over a place just because it seemed like a very unlikely place for him to hide.

"Okay then," she said sitting back in her seat as the ship began to go into warp drive. "Aether, here I come."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Much as Ridley hated to admit, the story D-Lar the Luminoth told him was utterly fascinating. The fact Samus Aran managed to get out of such a situation without much mental damage just proved her strength of character. If she hadn't been such a thorn in his side for so long he might have had respect for her.

Oh well. Nothing he could really do about that now. He hated her way too much for anything like that and if anybody would ask him such a thing he would be sure to loudly deny it. This Luminoth wasn't likely to ask him about it so he need not worry.

When the moth alien finished his story Ridley remarked. "Seems you owe this Samus Aran woman a lot of gratitude."

"Yes, we do," D-Lar replied with an afirming nod. "If it were not for her none of us would be alive today."

"Indeed." he didn't have much else to say to the Luminoth about it. "Everyone needs a hero and she deserves that label."

"Yes, yes she does."

Internally Ridley was thinking the exact opposite. While the Federation and these beings considered such he did not at all. There was just way too much bad blood between him and her for that kind of praise even if he _did_ think her saving Aether single handedly was impressive.

"So now I guess you all are repopulating the planet and getting things returned to normal, am I right?" he asked.

D-Lar nodded. "It feels good to have peace once more."

"I'm sure it does..."

"Would you like to see what we have accomplished since that time?" the Luminoth asked him suddenly. "There is just so much that has been created and learned."

Ridley almost declined the offer but chose instead to accept it. Whatever the Luminoth showed him might come in handy in the future. It would be best to take it all in just in case the need ever arose that forced his hand. Ridley nodded. "Show me everything."

* * *

Samus touched her ship down in the same spot she'd landed her ship the last time she'd come to Aether. As she powered down the ship, she looked out at the planet before her. It hadn't changed much since she'd last been there except that now vegetation was beginning to grow which was a sure sign of a healing world.

The bounty hunter had to smile. She wondered how U-Mos and the other Luminoth were doing. She was sure they'd be glad to see her but would probably ask her why she was there. Hopefully they could help her.

With that in mind Samus exited her ship and began to make her way to the Great Temple of Aether. U-Mos was the Luminoth Sentinel so he would probably be there guarding the Light of Aether. She just hoped he was there.

* * *

D-Larr was a very good tour guide. He showed Ridley around being sure to give him a history about the places and information on what the Luminoth was doing with the locations now. Ridley listened to it all, filing it in his mind for further use if the need came, though he was utterly fascinated by what he learned.

These Luminoth were an intriguing species. Just as the Chozo were, maybe even more so, though the Luminoth had never created metroids. Ridley began to wonder how he and the rest of the space pirates had not heard about these beings and their technology sooner. It would have made things much easier for them.

Oh well, no sense dwelling on the past. He was learning about them now and that was all that counted. Maybe in the future if he ever became a pirate general again and regained his old form he could remedy that.

"So this Light of Aether is the technology you use to give life to the planet?" Ridley asked him. "Since Aether isn't orbiting a star?"

D-Larr nodded. "Without the light this planet would grow dark and cold and no life could be sustained here. We were every lucky Samus Aran came when she did or this planet would be a much different inhospitable place."

This planet also would have been a very unwelcoming place for him as well. If the world had been left to darkness he wouldn't not have been able to come to it when he fled the Federation planet. Or if he had come there the beings call the Ing would have possessed him and removed his free will completely.

The Ing. The name seemed so familiar, like he'd heard it somewhere before, but where? Much as he tried to figure that out, the answer did not come to him. but from the Luminoth's description they were pretty horrifying.

Maybe it was good he'd never have to deal with those things himself.

Suddenly Ridley realized D-Larr was talking to him. "What was that?" he asked, turning his attention to the Luminoth. _Get it together, Ridley!_

"I was just saying that by the end of this year we will have almost completely reverted the planet back to how it was before the calamity," D-Larr replied. "Well aside from changes in the planet's geographical makeup that is. Other than that Aether will be completely healed."

"You don't expect another threat to come to your planet, do you?" he asked him, being careful in how he voiced this question.

"Why _should_ we?" the Luminoth asked him. He gave him a curious look. "What could we possibly have that anyone would want?"

"Nevermind," Ridley looked away, not liking being stared at. Had he sounded a little too eager in his questioning? Was this insect geting suspicious? "I was just curious is all, forget I even said anything."

D-Larr let it drop and continued to show Ridley around. The subject didn't come up again during the rest of the tour and Ridley was rather relieved his guide wasn't asking any questions. He would be unable to explain himself anyway.

 _Especially since what I am thinking about would make this guy and the rest of his kind stop thinking of me as a lost space traveler who crashed here and start treating me as a threat._

Yup, it was best he said nothing, not one single word.

* * *

The temple grounds looked pretty empty, Samus realized as she approached the structure, that meant either one of two things; U-Mos wasn't there after all or he was there and just didn't feel like making his presence known for some reason. Neither option wasn't bad per say but if he wasn't there she would have to look for him and she didn't really have any idea where he would go. When she'd been there in the past he'd remained in the Temple to guard his fellow Luminoth, he hadn't gone anywhere else.

She entered the temple and paused to look around, taking in every detail of the large welcoming chamber. The interior of the temple hadn't changed much at all since she'd last been there. Aside from it feeling more welcoming, it was about the same.

Samus couldn't help but smile. The temple back then had felt like the only peaceful place on the planet and it still held that peaceful feeling now. It made her feel like she was being greeted by an old friend.

 _You remember me, don't you? I remember you too. I'm sorry we have to meet again under such strained terms. I hope I can end this problem much sooner than the previous one. You will have nothing to worry about._

"Samus Aran?"

Upon hearing her name, Samus turned to face the speaker. She spotted U-Mos the fifth sentinel of the Luminoth standing behind her.

"U-Mos," she said in greeting, a slight smile coming to her face. "It's good to see you again."

The Luminoth nodded to her and walked toward her. "As is seeing you," he said. 'What brings you to Aether?"

He was getting right to the point so Samus extended the same courtesy. "I'm looking for someone," she began to describe what he looked like and why she so intent on finding him.

When she was finished with her explanation U-Mos said. "I have not seen anyone like that here but that doesn't mean he couldn' be on the planet. I would suggest asking around, some of the other Luminoth might have seen him."

"I guess I have no other choice," she said with a sigh before turning to head out of the temple. "Thanks anyway."

"I hope you find who you're looking for," he called to her as she left. "May the Light of Aether guide you."

Samus hoped so too. She figured now was as good a time as any to start. She just prayed she wasn't about to waste her time.

After she exited the temple she headed off to find the rest of the Luminoth. Now that they were no longer in stasis the Aether natives would be scattered about the planet. Finding them shouldn't be too hard since they were rather large but you never knew, it could still take awhile. But she was willing to spend her time doing it, if it resulted in her getting the information she was after. Then again it couldn't hurt to actually spend some time to explore the planet without worrying about being attacked by anything. She'd never been able to take the time to enjoy the beauty of Aether the first time she'd been there.

Maybe the visit wouldn't be a waste of time after all..

 _Please let Ridley be here_. she thought as she headed off in the direction of the Turvos Bog.

* * *

D-Larr took Ridley back to the house after he'd finished giving the space pirate the planetary tour. Ridley felt rather satisfied afterward as he had learned some very interesting things while on it. The tour had been very informative indeed.

D-Larr suddenly seemed to think of something. "By the way, about your ship."

Ridley stiffened slightly and looked at him. "What about my ship?"

"If you would like I could get a few other Luminoth together and see what we can do to get it running again," the Aether native replied. "You did say it crashed here after all and if you plan on leaving eventually it'll have to be in working order."

"You don't have to worry about it right now," he told him in a slightly guarded tone. "I don't need to leave for awhile. It can wait."

"Are you sure?" the Luminoth asked.

Ridley nodded. "I am positive."

"Okay then. if that's what you want we'll have to respect it."

Ridley was relieved. At least the Luminoth seemed to be very understanding beings. Good. No problems for the moment anyway but that was subject to change, he knew. He would just have to do something about that before it happened and his mind was already coming up with a plan for that very thing.

* * *

Navigating her way through the Turvos Bog, Samus mentally worked out what she was going to say to the other Luminoth on the planet. She would give them the same description she'd given U-Mos and ask similar questions, but she would be sure not to give way too much information. Telling U-Mos about Ridley was one thing but explaining it to innocent civilians was another. She didn't want to cause them panic or worry, especially after what had happened to the planet in the past. There was no need to leave any of them thinking Ridley would cause a similar thing to happen to the planet that the Ing had.

Unless Ridley tried to steal the Light of Aether that is and she was very well read in the things that horrible monster did to harmless people when he wanted something valuable they had. It was why Zebes was gone... it was why her parents were gone.

 _Not this time,_ she promised herself. _Ridley is not going to do that to the Lumnioth, I don't_ care _what body he's in now. A space pirate is a space pirate and they will never change, especially Ridley. He will always be a heartless monster. A heartless monster I need to rid the galaxy of forever!_

As she continued on she suddenly felt as if she was being watched. Not wanting to be caught off guard she spun around and aimed into the trees. "Who's there?" she snapped. "Show yourself! Come out now or I will _make_ you!"

There was no action for a brief moment but then there was movement in the trees and a figure followed by others stepped into view.

When Samus saw who it was her blue eyes widened in surprise. " _Adam_?"

* * *

Ridley and D-Larr were just coming up to the place where Ridley had awakened previously when the space pirate was suddenly racked by agonizing pain which coursed all the way down his back. He fell over, wrapping his arms around himself as he cried out. He'd felt this pain earlier but now it was a hundred times worse.

The Luminoth stopped and looked down at him with concern. "Rider, are you all right?" he asked worriedly.

Ridley was in too much agony to say anything. When another spasm of pain hit him he started screaming.

D-Larr didn't hesitate. He knew Ridley was in some kind of trouble and needed helped. Thinking quickly he reached down and carefully picked up the suffering space pirate, holding him securely in his arms before rising into the air and flying straight for the Great Temple.

* * *

Adam Malkovich and Samus eyed each other a moment before the bounty hunter spoke. "So, they sent _you_ to find Ridley," she remarked in a somewhat bitter tone. "Figures. What did they expect to happen if we ran into each other? That I would step aside and let you take over? Is the Federation _really_ that foolish?"

Adam, his face betraying none of his inner feelings merely said. "I was given an order to find Ridley," he responded. "They never mentioned you would also be looking for him. "

Samus shook her head. She really shouldn't be confronting Adam about this. It wasn't his fault anyway, he was just following orders and for all she knew none of this had anything to do with her at all. It was rather selfish to think such things.

"Either way if you're here too that must mean you know where Ridley is," she stated. "He's on Aeither, isn't he?"

The man who used to be her Commanding Officer from her days in the Galatic Federation nodded. "The Federation traced the signal from the ship he stole," Adam told her. "The signal led us here so I can only assume that yes Ridley is somewhere on Aether. My squad is combing the planet for him right now."

Well that just made things much easier for her. Now that she knew the space pirate was there she just had to find him, before Adam and the rest of his squad did. That was harder than it sounded, she admitted to herself but she wasn't going to let on to the Federation soldier before her, she didn't care if this one happened to be her former C.O.

"Samus." Adam's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry about this but I am under orders to find him and bring him back. I am aware of your history with him and, if I had known that you were also searching for him, I never would have agree to this. The last thing I wanted was to get in the way of your job. " he faced her now. "But sadly I am committed and I will have to do my job, even if it means preventing you from doing yours. It's nothing personal."

"I know," she told him. "but that is only _if_ you and your men reach him before I do. If I'm the one who locates him first I will not hesitate to terminate him."

Adam nodded at her. "I understand. I wouldn't expect nothing else from you." He turned from her to head back into the thick forest. "May the best person win."

"Indeed." she also turned and continued her own hunt, pushing her feelings to the back of her mind and refocusing on the task at hand. _And that person is going to be me, nothing personal._

 _A/N_

 _I am sorry this took so long to update. Yes, I am adding Adam to the story but he's not going to act like he did in Other M since this story makes that game completely nonexistant and because I utterly hate that game and will not acknowledge it as a true Metroid game. If that bothers you... well too bad._


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As luck would have it Samus found the stolen Federation ship long before Adam and his squad did. Once sighted and she moved close enough to get a better look at it, she took a moment to survey her surroundings, allowing herself to consider her options from there. She was going to have to look for Ridley now that she knew where the ship was. She knew he wasn't in there because she knew Ridley wasn't dumb enough to hang around a ship that was leaving off a signal. It was time to search for the space pirate himself. With that in mind Samus headed back into the forest of the Torvus Bog.

Just as she was walking away from the ship a shadow fell over her. Thinking it was Ridley she looked up, changing her stance into a defensive position. But it wasn't Ridley. The figure looked bipedal and flew over her without even noticing. From where she was standing she could easily figure out that it was another luminoth and not the dreaded dragon space pirate.

 _Ridley isn't a giant monster anymore either,_ she reminded herself. _There's no way he could regain that form anyway, not with what the Federation did to make him the way he is now._

With that in mind she decided to try and see where this Luminoth was going. He wasn't close enough for her to call to him but if she trailed him she might be able to catch up to him when he landed. He might be able to tell her something, especially since he seemed to be heading toward the Temple.

She might even run into Ridley on the way.

* * *

"I don't know what happened, we were just walking and suddenly he fell over and screamed like he was in some kind of pain."

U-Mos had been startled by the sudden appearance of D-Larr who had entered the temple carrying the unconscious form of Ridley in his arms. Of course the Luminoth didn't know that it was Ridley and he had asked the other Luminoth who this person was and what had happened. D-Larr had set the space pirates prone body gently down on a small rug and began to explain what had happened and why he'd brought him to the temple.

"Did you see anything?" U-Mos asked of him as he moved over to get a better look at the figure. "Did he give any indication that there was anything wrong before he did this?"

D-Larr could only shake his head. "Nothing, there were absolutely no warnings." he explained. "Nothing at all."

The Luminoth sentinel knelt down and lifted Ridley's head slightly to get a better look at him. He was very careful when he examined the space pirate, being sure not to do anything that might make whatever had caused him pain before to flair up again. As he did this he noticed there seemed to be nothing wrong. So what in the world had caused him to have that attack?

Just then Ridley's eyes snapped open. His yellow reptilian eees met with the Luminoth's large insectoid ones and he let out a hiss, pushing himself away from the large alien.

"Be still, friend," U-Mos said, getting a tight grip on the space pirate, completely unfazed by Ridley trying to shove him away. "I am not your enemy."

Ridley relaxed a little bit, but he was still suspicious. "Who are you?"

"I am U-Mos fifth sentinel of the Luminoth," the moth like alien explained. "D-Larr brought you to me because he said something was happening to you." he then explained the events that brought Ridley to the temple.

"Now, I don't know why you had such an attack," U-Mos said after he finished telling him the whole story. "But, whatever it was it must be serious. I need to ask you, is there something wrong with you health wise that could have brought on such a thing?"

Ridley fell silent for a moment, letting this question process. He could not tell these creatures that the body he had now was not his original one. He knew very little about the workings of his new form to really give them a proper answer so he shook his head and said. "No, there's nothing that I know of that is wrong with my health. I am just as confused about this as you are."

U-Mos didn't look like he was buying it. "You don't have any idea at all?"

The space pirate could only shake his head once more. "No, I don't have a single clue." and after he said that he hoped the Luminoth would drop the subject.

Luckily for him U-Mos did, though he did ask him. "When was the first time you felt this kind of pain? Can you at least tell me that?"

Ridley answered that question pretty quickly. "Not long after I reached this planet."

The two luminoth glanced at each other and seemed to be having some him of telepathic conversion before U-Mos looked back at him and began to ask. "Do you think-"

A wave of agony suddenly shot through Ridley and he let out a cry, cutting off the rest of U-Mos sentence.

"What?" U-mos exclaimed, as Ridley wrapped hid arms around himself and curled up into a fetal position where he commenced to screaming. The sounds were so loud and priecing whatever glass items were in the area shattered all at once.

D-Larr looked around, his eyes wide. "What's happening?!" he asked then let out a grunt of pain and covered his ears when ridley screamed again.

The two luminoth backed away firom him and he rolled over on his stomach, his arms still wrapped around himself. As they tried to figure out what to do for him there was the sound of tearing cloth and two bony wings with thin yellow skin like membranes attacked to them burst out of his back, sending dark colored blood in all directions. The wings opened, reviling a rather impressive wingspan seconds before ridley, panting heavily pushed himself off the floor.

"Rider?" D-Lar said, his voice uncertain. "What are-"

Ridley, breathing heavily as blood soaked through the dirty federation uniform, looked up at him, his yellow eyes glowing fiercely. He depend his mouth to say something but nothing came out a moment before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed heavily onto the stone floor.

* * *

Samus lost sight of the luminoth she'd been tailing but since she was pretty sure where the being was going she'd run toward the Great Temple where she was pretty sure he'd gone to. So she headed toward it, making sure to deal with any hostile creatures she might encounter along the way.

The resident fauna wasn't her biggest worry though, it was Adam and his squade seeing the luminoth and getting the same idea she did. Hopefully they just thought the being was just a planetary resident doing a normal thing. Samus was sure the Luminoth most likely was doing just that but her idea was finding out information. If the Federation saw it the same idea wouldn't cross their minds.

But who was she kidding? That wasn't likely to happen at all. Adam was smarter than that and his squad was better trained than that. The best thing she could do right now was beat them to the temple and seeing that she kenw the planet better than they did, she most likely would.

She doubted that they would even think the luminoth was important. In the grand scheme of things following and questioning an alien insect would be low on the list of priorities.

But it didn't matter once she reached the Temple. She'd entered the room D-Larr and U-Mos were in with Ridley just as Ridley's wing's burst out of his back and he'd collapsed to the ground. As this happened she stood in shock, completely surprised and somewhat unnerved by what she'd just witnessed.

What in the world was _that_ and why did it even _happen_?!

It took her a moment to settle her surprisingly rattled nerves before she could say anything. "I thought you said you hadn't seen him."

The two luminoth looked over at her, startled. "Samus," U-Mos said.

She looked at him then crossed the room and stood over Ridley's unconscious form, studying the newly sprouted wings on his back with a frown. Was his dragon DNA beginning to take over? She wondered. Was his body slowly transforming him into his original form? If so she wouldn't have much time before he became a threat again.

Samus aimed her arm canon at Ridley's body.

"Samus?" U-Mos said, looking confused. '"What are you _doing_?"

She glanced back at him. "This is the creature I've been looking for," she told him. "I'm going to eliminate him now before he harms anymore people."

" _Who_ has he harmed?" U-Mos asked her.

"This is the creature that killed my parents," she told him, her teeth clenched together.

U-Mos fell silent as Samus kept going. "He killed millions of people, he is the cause of many galactic catastrophes. If I don't kill him he will continue to be a Threat to not just the Federation but to you and your world as well. Don't begin to think because he looks like this he's harmless. He's nothing but a merciless monster."

"Samus..."

Samus looked back at Ridley, charging up her arm canon. "His reign of terror ends here."

Just then Ridley, alerted by her voice, slowly opened her eyes and stared up at her. Their eyes met and his suddenly widened. Suddenly fully awake, he pushed himself up and let out a shriek that not only caused the two Luminoth great pain but also caused Samus' helmet to malfunction. The visor blinked out and samus sword, taking a step back.

Ridley took that moment to get up off the floor and shove at her, taking her by surprise. Off balance she fell backward, landing on her back the same moment Ridley turned away from her and rushed in the opposite direction, his newly sprouted wings unfurling propelling him off the ground and out of the temple.

Samus' visor cleared up and she sat up just in time to see Ridley shoot out a window. "No!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet and rushing after him. But she was too late. He'd put a fair amount of distance between them before she could even get a lock on him to fire a missile. She swore and turned him the window, rushing toward the exit of the temple.

"Samus!" U-Mos called after her.

"I'm sorry, U-Mos," she called back to him. "But I don't have time to explain anything right now!" then she was gone before either Luminoth knew what was happening.

* * *

"Hey, Colonel Malkovich, look at that!"

Adam stopped and looked over at one of his men who was looking into the air and pointing at something. Adam looked toward where he was pointing and raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes. What he saw was a winged human that fit the description they'd been given.

"It's him," he said, lowering the glasses. "Let's move."

The forces all followed after Adam as he headed after the flying space pirate.

* * *

Ridley had escaped the luminoth temple spurred on by adrenaline filled panic now that he was a safe distance from samus and any other threats that burst of energy was running out and those newly sprouted wings were beginning to fail him. Before he knew what was happening he was free falling and then he landed with a splash into deep body of water.

Taken from one extreme to another he fought his way to the surface and broke the water with a gasp. He looked around himself, spotting the shore a short distance away and quickly swimming toward it. Once he was out of the water he collapsed on the grass covered ground and then lay there, eyes closed and breathing heavily with exhaustion.

This is where he remained until he regained his energy and wits. Once he managed to catch his breath he pushed himself up off the ground as realization set in. The Luminoth knew who and what he was now. He would no longer be able to hide among them which meant the planet wasn't safe for him anymore.

With that concluded he also knew he couldn't keep running either. Sooner or later there would no longer be anywhere safe he could go without either the Federation or Samus Aran finding him and ending his life. The only way he was going to be rid of this problem forever would be to confront and defeat them or die trying and since Samus was already there and he knew it and he knew she wouldn't leave until she was rid of him, he was going to have to take care of her very soon.

He did not have any other choice.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up shakily, his newly sprouted wings folding tightly against his back, he looked toward the trees surrounding the lake he'd fallen into. His yellow eyes fell on a large temple like building erected a short distance away, the one he'd seen earlier. Since it was empty he could hide there for the time being and be able to work out some kind of plan or action. Yes, this was a good place to start.

That decided he headed toward it, walking unsteadily on his tired legs. He had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. He just hoped Samus wouldn't find him before he could come up with a plan of action.

* * *

Samus had lost sight of Ridley somewhere over the Torvus Bog. Frustrated she let out a sigh, clenching a fist and punching a tree to let out the pent up anger she had been holding in. Lost again! It felt like everything was working against her, preventing her from finally taking down her life's biggest problem. Why couldn't she just be rid of him forever? Why must he always come back to haunt him in one shape or another? It was always this way, always! The more he came back the more she lost. He'd killed her family, her adopted father Gray Voice, and the reason her home had been destroyed! All her pain and suffering were caused by him and now she couldn't even find him to kill him!

Her life would be so much easier if he just stayed dead!

 _Calm down, Aran,_ she scolded herself, dropping her hand to her side, fist still clenched. Now was not the time for this kind of thing. It was best she got back to the task at hand. Losing her temper wouldn't get her anywhere. Finding and taking out Ridley was the important thing, something she would be able to do if she kept a cool head and kept moving.

He'd flown into the Torvus Bog so it was very like he'd landed somewhere in there. She knew the swamp almost as good as the Luminoth did. Sure it would take some time but she'd learned patience over the years and it was time to put that to some good use.

 _All right, Ridley, I'm coming for you._

 _A/N_

 _Okay I am having a bit of an issue here. Not exactly sure how to proceed here or if I should make Samus fight and kill Ridley, fight and not kill Ridley, or have her fight him then get interrupted by the Federation... I'm stuck._


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Ridley sat in the upper floor of the Hydrodynamo Station, watching the small Aether fish species known as Bloggs circling around in the water just below the place where he was perched. So far nobody had come looking for him and he was safe where he was, but he knew that wouldn't last long. The Luminoth had told him the whole story about Samus saving their planet so she would be very well learned in every twist and turn of the planet. She very likely would be looking where he was currently hiding soon enough and he would either have to face her or leave before she arrived and find another place to hide.

In the meantime he would just stay there for a little while and make plans.

At the moment he was seated on the floor of the Station and studying his newly sprouted wings intently, trying to figure out what the significance was of them popping out of his back when they had. Were they a unintentended result of the DNA splicing that made up his more humanoid body or were they a sign that his body was starting to turn into his dragon form?

He hoped for the latter but also dreaded the thought. If his transformation was as painful as when his wings came out he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it, the agony might wind up killing him. On the other hand it could be worth it since he'd no longer be in this disgusting hybrid body anymore. However he got the feeling this was not the case at all and the former was the true answer to what had happened. The humans in that lab had ensured they'd used more human DNA than that of his species and even if the DNA from his original body had tried taking over it would probably only cause his death in the most painful way possible. There was also the realization that the scientists at that lab had probably taken all the precautions to make sure he never reverted back to that form. He looked down at himself now, noticing all the blood stains on the now dirty and torn Federation uniform, and made a disgusted sound before trying to remove the clothing, only to discover his wings prevented him from stripping them off.

Ridley swore. Nothing was ever easy for him!

Turning his attention back on his wings, he allowed himself a moment to think about the events that led up to this. Things just didn't seem to be going his way ever since he'd woken up in that tank. Sure he'd managed to escape the place and take out a few of those scientists along the way, but for the most part everything seemed to be going in the opposite direction of what he wanted.

He was either running for his life and hiding or dealing with pain because his new body was constantly creating new things to make him miserable, and everything else wasn't helping either. If it wasn't the Federation trying to force him into helping them take out space pirates it was Samus on her life mission to eradicate him from existence.

His life had never been easy since he'd met her all those years ago when she was just three years old on the human mining planet. She would forever remain a thorn in his side and, to be perfectly honest, their little game of cat and mouse had been fun. He'd wanted to make her cry again, just once more.

 _Not going to happen_ , he reminded himself. _She hasn't cried since she was fifteen years old when we met again on Zebes and she only gets more icy as time goes on. Thanks to me. Doubtful she'll ever allow herself to be that emotionally vulnerable again._

Ridley sighed, leaning his head back and resting it against the cold stone walls of the station. Thinking about her wasn't going to help him figure out what to do now. He needed to focus, figure out his next course of action. She would come for him and soon. He was going to have to be ready.

His wings folded tightly against his back as he pushed himself off the floor. He was still a little sore from his fall but it would go away soon enough. It wasn't important anyway. It was time to get his superior brain working again and this time he was going to make sure Samus was the one laying in a heap on the floor and begging for her life to be spared.

 _Come and get me, Samus Aran!_

* * *

Samus easily made her way through Turvos Bog and through the temple grounds. So far the only things she had encountered where the resident fauna of the area and she was mostly ignored by it unless she got too close to the more dangerous specimens which she made sure to avoid. But she hadn't gotten even a glimpse of Ridley, though she knew he was there somewhere.

 _I know he's here, though,_ she told herself. _I haven't seen any serpentine creatures taking off into the air and I would notice him if he did._

She paused, looking around herself. She'd concluded he wasn't in the temple and he hadn't been in the bog itself. There weren't many more places he could be hiding. She checked her heat, inferred, and x-ray visors, hoping one of them would help her pick up any sign of the space pirate.

After a moment of scanning, she thought she caught a glimpse of an out of place figure moving near the Hydrostation. Switching her visor back to standard she checked her weapons to make sure they were all working properly and then walked toward the station, her senses on high alert.

It was time to finish this.

* * *

U-Mos and D-larr were momentarily stunned by Samus words and her running out of the Temple after Ridley that it took them both a few minutes to recover. Once they had U-Mos once again began grilling the slightly smaller Luminoth about Ridley.

"I can honestly tell you I did not know who or what he was," D-Lar insisted. "I wasn't even aware that the being called Ridley existed!"

"I don't blame you," U-Mos responded, nodding his head. "None of us ever had any encounters with him before. I didn't even know such a being existed until Samus told us about him."

D-Lar had to ask. "But is she sure that he is the one?" he wanted to know. "I mean he didn't act like he was dangerous."

"It might have all been a deception," U-Mos told him, looking thoughtful. "He might have had an ulterior motive, which might explain why he wanted you to show him the Light of Aether..."

D-Lar didn't look very happy about such a suggestion. The impression he'd gotten from Ridley was that he was just genuinly curious about the planet. The Luminoth looked out the window at Aether's landscape before he said. "What use would he have for it if the space pirates no longer exist?"

The Luminoth sentinel couldn't give any answers to that. "There are just some beings that have no interest in living in peace, I guess," he said after a moment of silence. "But I do believe maybe he could if he wished to."

"Do you think he could?" D-Lar asked, looking back at him.

U-Mos nodded. "I believe so," he stated, heading toward the broken out window. "Come, there is much to do and very little time to do it."

* * *

Ridley could sense Samus was somewhere close by and this didn't make him feel any better. He'd made his way to a different part of the Hydrostation, farther inside and deeper below. It had been hard to get there as he'd had to hold his breath a few times and this wasn't something he was used to. When he'd been in his real form he wouldn't have had to as his original body also enabled him to breath in outer space. It just served as another reason for him to hate the Federation and everything about it.

Ridley finally came across a room that seemed to hold another way out of the building which was perfect for him. If things got bad he could easily escape through the hatch. That is if Samus didn't take steps to prevent him from escaping.

 _If I keep her completely focused on me this shouldn't be a hard thing to prevent,_ he told himself.

Of course that wasn't the biggest issue he'd have to face. Samus had all the weapons and he had nothing. This form even lacked his fire breath and ability to pierce her armor with his tail which didn't exist either. Just that weird feathery haired braid that turned into a more scally fleshy appendage that ended with a javelin barb, similar to his tail. He'd used it before but it only seemed to do anything when he was terrified or in a complete rage, which he was neither at the moment but that might change when he confronted the female bounty hunter.

He could fly, though, he reminded himself. Now that he had wings again, but who knew if those things would fail him too? They had only worked when he'd been in a state of panic.

"Maybe I should practice with them, until she arrives," he told himself as he sat down on the cold, damp floor. "At least then I'll have some kind of control over their function..."

* * *

Samus knew he was in the Hydrostation due to picking up his heat signature on inferred but she was pretty certain by the way it kept on moving he knew she knew. It didn't surprise her in the least, seeing as Ridley always seemed to be able to pick up on all her movements anywhere they had an encounter and even if he never attacked right away he was perfectly aware of where she was and when she was there. Since he knew what she was up too he apparently was moving around the way he was to make sure she didn't get the drop on him.

 _Let's just see about that, Ridley,_ she thought, working her way through the station's rooms. _You might think you'll be able to outsmart me but I'm ready for anything and this time you won't be hard to take down. You don't have that armor plated body of yours anymore so breaking you won't be a problem._

Samus checked the settings on her arm cannon. Everything seemed to be in perfect working order. Bombs, missiles, and charge beams fully stocked and ready. If the space pirate tried anything he'd be welcomed with a projectile to the face. A sick part of her was hoping he would just so she could do such a thing. It was all he deserved after all the pain and sorrow he'd caused. The bounty hunter stopped just outside of the room he was in and allowed herself a brief moment to run through her plan once more before she shot the door and stepped inside.

* * *

"But, U-Mos, how are we going to find them?" D-Larr asked as he and U-Mos flew over the landscape.

"Don't worry about that, D-Lar, I have a pretty good idea where they went."

D-Lar shot the Luminoth Sentinel a questioning look. "How do you know?" he wanted to know. "How are you even sure you're right."

U-Mos looked back at his companion. "He doesn't have anywhere else to go." he pointed down to the Torvus Bog below. "It's the only place where it's easy to hide. "

"What if Samus has already found him and killed him?" D-Lar wanted to know.

"I don't know," he told him honestly. "but let's just hope that hasn't happened. I intend to get to him before she does and see if I can do something to deal with the situation without anybody getting hurt, " he rose off the ground, flying slowly toward the window. "Wish me luck."

* * *

The moment Samus stepped into the room she was greeted by a loud otherworldly shriek. She looked up just in time to see a figure come swooping down toward her. Reacting on instinct she rolled out of the way and then looked up, aiming her arm canon in the direction she thought it would go.

But there was nothing there.

Confused for a moment she looked around, searching for the thing that had attacked her.

"Over here, Aran." spoke a voice above her.

Raising her head, the bounty hunter spotted a figure roosting on a platform above her. From it's dirty body and blood stained and torn Federation uniform she could make it out as her target.

"Ridley," she said, her voice a cold monotone as she studied the creature. He looked pitiful but no less dangerous.

The figure spoke, it's pale purple face hard as a stone. "Samus."

She faced him, her arm canon up in an offensive position. "I'm sure you know why I'm here," she responded.

"It's not to take me back to the Federation homeworld," he told her, the expression on his face becoming less readable, as if he was suddenly troubled by something. "You of all people wouldn't even entertain such an idea, especially after all I have done to you." his mouth turned up in a slight sneer. "which means this is personal for you, isn't it, Samus?"

The fact he already knew the reason for her being there did nothing to change her mind about what she intended to do to him. "That is my business," she said, keeping her attention focused on him and her body on alert for if he tried anything. "All you need to know is that I'm not going to let you get out of this room alive."

He smirked at her, mockingly. "Don't exect it to be that easy, Aran," he retorted, pushing himself up so he was on all fours. "I might be stuck in a pathetically weak body, but it doesn't mean your plans will go as you want them to." he made a weird face. "Huh, irony, with such a small body, you'll have an even harder time hitting me." he was standing now, looking down at her with piercing golden eyes. "but enough talk, let's just get to it."

Samus steeled her nerves ready for him to attack, ready for anything he was going to throw at her. But Ridley didn't attack, not right away. instead he stood there for a moment, watching her, eyes narrow, a look of total concentration on his face.

He's calculating a plan, she thought. Trying to think of an advantage. Well she wasn't going to let him have the chance.

Raising her arm cannon she fired a missile right at the reptilian humanoid. Ridley hadn't expected that and had to dive out of the way of the missile. Luckily it wasn't one of the heat seeking ones and he was able to safely avoid it. However, Samus seemed to have predicted that and she ran after him, firing missile after missile at him with no intention of letting up until she ran out.

Ridley hissed, unfurling his wings and flying sideways having a slightly better time with it when doing so. He was still relatively new to the added feature on his humanoid body, but as he'd had wings in his original form he managed to figure out how to master these pretty quickly. He turned his body sideways and out of the way of all her missiles.

Samus chased after him, still firing, unwilling to let him get away. This time she was not going to let him get away.

 _Time to die, Ridley!_

Ridley was intent on not dying and effortlessly dodged her missiles, a plan of counter attack formulating in his mind. Samus was being rather reckless shooting at him withseemingly no other plan in mind. He was sure the hunter had allowed her anger and hatred toward him to cloud her judgement and just leave her focusing on shooting until she made contact. It wouldn't be hard to exploit this and get the upper hand.

As he flew out of the way of her charge beam he realized his hair ended in a rather nasty spike, the remnant of the tail from his original form, and he smiled. He'd just been thinking about that before she'd found him. How could he have forgotten that? He still had a weapon after all.

It was about time for him to start fighting back.

Opening his wings wide, he changed position, twisting his body around and with a burst of energy propelled himself toward the hunter on the ground. She saw him coming and aimed at him. Just as she did so he let a scream that caused her weapon and helmet's system's to malfunction. He saw her step back, her left hand resting on the side of her helmet.

Now that she was blinded for a few seconds he took that opportunity to to strike, using the spear of the end of his long braid to slash down at her, hoping he would be able to impale her armor and end this fight for good.

 _Die!_

But just as the spear would have hit her she suddenly grabbed the end of it in her hand. His eyes widened in surprise. Samu's helmet's visor cleared up at her could see her eyes, two ice cold blue orbs at she locked them with his. Then she yanked on the spear, pulling him toward her before he could do anything to stop her.

He flew toward her unable to stop himself, Samus glared at him, raising her right arm to fire the blaster build into it at him. There was nothing he could do to keep her from killing him. But just as she was about to fire a voice called out.

"SAMUS STOP!"

Samus, startled by the voice, did not fire the charged energy at her enemy who hit the floor in front of her and lay there, momentarily stunned.

"Huh?" The bounty hunter lifted her head, spotting U-Mos and the other Luminoth from earlier hovering above her.

"U-Mos!" she exclaimed when she realized the voice had belonged the Luminoth leader. "Why did you stop me?!"

"Because," the large alien insect approached her, followed closely by his companion. "I cannot allow you to do this."

"What?" Her eyes grew wide behind her visor. "Do you even know all the horrible things this beast has done? Not only to me but to millions of beings all over the universe?"

"I'm aware, Samus," he responded. "You told me, but I just cannot stand aside and do nothing." the luminoth looked down at Ridley who hadn't yet recovered. He seemed to be in shock . "But, as you also told me, that Ridley died on Zebes."

"This is still him, U-Mos!" she shouted, pointing at the pale humanoid on the ground. "Just because he's in a different body now doesn't change anything!"

"Doesn't it?" U-Mos inquired. "Look at him, do you honestly believe he can cause just as much suffering in that form?" he turned is gaze back onto her. "Samus, even if he were to return to the space pirate homeworld they would not accept him in that body. He would be nothing to them now. While both you and he might believe the opposite, he lacks that power."

"No," she cut him off, unwilling to believe such a claim. "He can still cause great harm in that form." her hand which still clenched the spear end of Ridley's braid tightened. "He killed a whole building of federation scientists before he stole a ship and landed here! The only survivor of that attack is on life support!"

U-Mos fell silent for a moment then said. "You told me he had been held in that laboratory and was being treated pretty inhumanely. It could be that the reason he did what he did was because he was defending himself from that kind of administration."

Samus gritted her teeth, unable to believe what she was hearing. Was the Luminoth _defending_ him?!

"Samus," U-Mos continued. "In the time he was here he's harmed no one."

"That's because he's trying to trick you," she shot back at him. "He wants something."

"What could he possibly want from us?"

"Your light!" she told him. "You showed it to him, right? Do you really think he would continue to live here and not try to steal if from you?" U-Mos said nothing which spurred her on. She continued."Do you believe he would not try to steal it? Ridley will if you allow him to live, he will betray you and take your light."

The two Luminoth's exchanged glances and then the sentinel looked back at his female human friend. "Very well, Samus, if you honestly believe he will do such a thing we will have to ensure he doesn't." before she could say anything he added, raising a hand in the air. "However we will prevent this not by ending his life but by confining him to a secure area for the time being."

That sounded reasonable. "Adam Malkavich of the Galactic Federation would be happy to take him back to the homeworld," she replied, figuring that was what he meant.

"We will not be handing the space pirate over to the Federation."

"What!?" Samus stared at the alien insect in astonishment. Did she really hear what she thought she had? "U-Mos, You-"

The Lunimoth shook his head, cutting her off with. "I have a better idea."

She frowned. What idea could possibly be better than allowing her to kill Ridley or handing him back over to the Galatic Federation? It seemed like she was about to find out. "Fine," she consented with a sigh. "we'll do it your way. But at least allow me to tie him up with something to make sure he doesn't try anything."

U-Mos nodded. "That is fine." he turned back to the other Lumnioth as he said. "we will take him to the temple. From there we will decide his fate."

* * *

By the time Adam and his men had reached to place where Samus and the others had been having their conversation the area had been deserted.

"What do you think happened, sir?" one of the men in hs group asked.

"Aran must have gotten here before we did," the older man replied, looking up at walls which had suffered some damage from her confrontation with Ridley. "I am not sure how it ended as I don't see a body. She either lost and he got away and she chased after him, or she won and took the body with her when she left." Adam frowned. "Samus is not known for keeping trophies so he must have gotten away."

"Where do you think they could have gone?" his subordinate wanted to know.

"I don't know," he responded, checking something on a small monitor in his hand. "But it's time we step in. She had her chance and now it's our turn." He faced the men. "Let's move out."


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Samus and the two Luminoth took Ridley back to the Great Temple ,where U-Mos carried the space pirate to one of the small storage rooms, and gently set him down before leaving him alone in the room, locking the door behind him so Ridley couldn't try to get out.

Samus, who had followed the Luminoth, lingered for a brief moment afterward, casting the humanoid space dragon a cold glare before she too exited the room, following U-Mos back into the main room of the Great Temple. As she did so she could feel Ridley's golden yellow eyes staring daggers into her back. She chose not to give him any attention by saying a word or turning around and just continue on, allowing the door to slide shut automatically behind her, cutting off his stare.

She joined U-Mos and D-Lar who had begun to have a conversation once she and the Luminoth had entered the main room. The two Luminoth looked down at her, waiting for her to speak. They both knew she had a lot to say and felt it was time to let her do so without interruption.

The bounty hunter looked back at them, folding her arms frowning in annoyance. "What do you expect to accomplish by doing this?" she wanted to know, her attention focused completely on U-Mos. "I can promise you the only outcome you'll get is a bad one." she glanced back the way she and U-Mos had just come from. "He only cares about himself and what he can do to further his own agenda. He's going to repeat the cycle if you don't let me deal with him right now."

"Samus," U-Mos began. "you agreed allow us to deal with this situation in our own way. Don't forget that and I promise you we will if what you say proves to be the reason he pretended to be someone else when he got here but." he knelt down so he could be at her level. "You said why he escaped the Federation home world and what he did to accomplish that. When he got here he didn't come off as a threat at all. D-Lar found him unconscious and not very aggressive. I'm not denying he killed those people nor am I ignoring what he did as a space pirate and in his true form but since he's been here he's done nothing."

"He hasn't had a _chance_ yet," Samus put in. "If he'd been here longer without anyone finding him he would have taken advantage of you, and I can assure you, he would have taken the light that illuminates your planet. Even if what you said about the space pirates not accepting him back due to the form he has is true, it doesn't mean he won't try." she folded her arms. "and he could very well convince them and they could return here to take the Light from you. Space pirates don't care about who they hurt, they only care about what they can use to further their reign of terror."

"I doubt there are enough space pirates left to be much of a problem anymore," U-Mos responded. "From the information we've gotten you were able to take out nearly all of them when Zebes blew up. If there are any left it would only be tiny pockets, is this not true?"

It _was_ true but Samus didn't see the point in him asking that when it wasn't the point. Even if there were very few space pirates left Ridley could still get them all together and reform the entire fleet, with his leadership it wouldn't take long to reassemble the entire army. But maybe U-Mos was right and he wouldn't be able to? Maybe the form the Federation had given him would prevent it? She didn't know and neither did U-Mos, both could only guess.

So maybe she should take their advice for now, even though everything was telling her not to. Ridley was confined for now but she knew he wasn't one to remain that way. She was going to have to keep an eye on him until the Luminoth decided what they were going to do with him.

"I still believe you should let me deal with him my own way," she retorted, though she knew nothing she said was going to change her friend's mind. He'd already decided what he was going to do. She was going to just have to wait.

"It won't hurt if you keep an eye on him, though," U-Mos finally said. "That way if he does try anything that proves you right you will be there to take him out." he cocked his head slightly. "Would that be satisfactory for you for now?"

He was giving her some leeway so she chose to take it before he changed his mind, as she had already decided that before he'd spoken up. The female bounty hunter nodded, agreeable. "It will do for now."

"One more thing," she said, remembering something important before the conversation veered off to another subject. "I'm not the only person who is aware that he is here..."

* * *

Ridley sat slumped in the room U-Mos had left him in. He'd watched the luminoth and that cursed bounty hunter Samus Aran leave him alone in the room. He was sure once they'd left they'd gone to talk about him and decide what they intended to do with him. Of course Samus would stick to her belief that he would be better off dead and they should let her do it but the luminoth...

 _Why did they even bother saving my life?_ he wondered. _Considering all she has told them about me, you would think they'd be happy to have me meet my end._

But that hadn't happened. They'd protected him. It didn't make sense, it was completely illogical. But U-Mos had had an excuse for it, even if it was rather pathetic. Did the luminoth really think those things? If he did he was rather naive.

 _But still,_ he looked back toward the door. _he didn't have to do that, yet he did it anyway..._

Blasted good creatures and their morals. Did he really believe what he'd said about him? That Ridley wouldn't be able to return to the space pirates and if he did that they would reject him because of the form he now was imprisoned in? What if he believed that because it really _was_ true? What if he really couldn't return to them? What if they didn't believe he was who he said he was and killed him?

 _If it is true, I'm better off dead anyway,_ he thought. He raised his hands to look at them. Delicate human skin, five long fingers with sharp nails, small pathetic and weak. He curled his hands into fists and swore. Now he _did_ wish Samus had killed him because then he wouldn't be sitting there coming to the realization that that Luminoth was absolutely _right_.

Had he really expected the space pirates to accept his word that he was indeed Ridley? How would he have even proven it? Pirates were not known for asking questions before firing at anything that got too close to their bases.

He swore again, uncurling his fists and staring at the bloody wounds he'd made on them with his nails. He stared at the dark red liquid seeping out of the punctures as if he'd never seen blood before. So red, it was repulsive. He could pick up the the rotten metallic smell coming from it.

Disgusting.

 _Disgusting!_ He let out a yell, slamming his fists onto the ground. Pain shot through his hands, wrists, and arms, fueling his anger. He grabbed his sides, further tearing at the tattered and bloody federation uniform he was still wearing.

He hated this thing, hated the entire federation, hated Samus, hated metroids, hated the entire universe and his cursed existence. Why did it always feel like everything was working against him? Could he just not have something _good_ happen for once?

He gritted his teeth in anger, growling. _I should have killed that woman the moment I set my eyes on her when she was a toddler! Oh, how things would have been different! I would have been ruling this universe, would have had the upper hand, would not be trapped in this disgusting human body, sitting here on Aethor, waiting for that bounty hunter and her giant moth friends to decide what is going to happen to me!_

"Son of a-"

He stopped in mid swear when he noticed the door had opened and the very hunter he'd been thinking about stepped into the room. He shot her a sneer. "Here to finish the job?"

Samus stopped, taking a moment to look him over. A pale. purple skinned humanoid in a tattered and blood stained federation uniform. He looked like less of a threat and more of a pitiful failure than anything right then, even considering the wings closely tucked against his back. It was pretty pathetic.

Ridley noticed her staring and smiled bitterly. "I'm a sight, aren't I?" he asked her. "The great and terrible Ridley, commander of the space pirates, reduced to a pathetic human being in a federation uniform. How ironic, wouldn't you say?" hey flopped back against the wall, his wings lightly scraping against the stone wall. "and now you're here, back from your meeting with the luminoth to put me out of my misery, am I right?"

"No."

The former space pirate's eyes widened in shock. "No?" he frowned.

"U-Mos decided that killing you wouldn't be wise thing to do," she responded, her tone only slightly giving away her true feelings. "He believes what he said earlier, that you have no ill intentions toward Aether or anyone for that matter." she folded her arms. "and of course, you can't go back to the space pirates anyway, so what exactly can you do?"

Ridley looked away, the fact hitting him once more. "What exactly, indeed..." he rested his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. "I've lost everything. All my power, my home planet, even my life and look at me now? Sitting here talking to my worst enemy, waiting for her to just end me already so I can go back to hell."

He opened his eyes and looked back at her. "And what is stopping you?" he inquired. "The decision of a Luminoth who knows next to nothing about me. You should just do it anyway. If he asks why just tell him I attacked you and it was self defense."

She stared him down. "What is preventing you from giving me that excuse?" she wanted to know. "Seeing as you're always the one to start our battles."

The space pirate looked up at her, but remained seated. "I am tired," he told her. "I don't feel like doing anything."

She was having a hard time believing that and he could tell. She probably was thinking he was only pretending so she would drop her guard and he would attack her and try to flee. But why would he bother? Where did she expect him to go? Right where he was at that moment was the best place he could be.

 _I just wish she would do what she came here to do and put me out of my misery already._

"Why?"

He frowned, his attention returning to her. "Why what?"

"Why did the federation bring you back?" she answered him. "What did they hope to accomplish by bringing you back to life?"

"They didn't tell you?" he asked her. No, they wouldn't, he doubted she was even supposed to know about him. "They wanted me to tell them where the rest of the Spare Pirates are located so they could destroy them." he sighed, running a hand through his grey feather like hair. "It would be best if they left them alone."

"Why is that?" she demanded of him.

His yellow eyes locked with her blue ones. "Because without a leader they're all basically worthless anyway," he told her. "I mean, considering the fact all their commanders are dead, all the metroids are dead thanks to you, Zebes has been blown up, Mother Brain's gone and as for me." he raised his arms and let her get a good look at his body. "as the Luminoth said, do you really think they would want to take orders from someone who looks like this?" he laughed bitterly. "If I even tried to regain control of them they would just kill me, as they would not believe I am who I claim to be."

Ridley dropped his arms and flopped back against the wall, looking defeated. "So the best they could do is forget about them and let you kill me, because I am better off dead than alive."

Samus said nothing, simply silently standing there like a stone cold statue, leaving Ridley to, like in nearly all of their encounters, be unable to figure out what she was thinking. She obviously had to be processing what he'd told her , but he had no way of knowing that. He wished she'd just say or do something, as it would help him feel a little better at least.

"So they want you to tell them where the rest of the space pirates are," she said after a moment. "That can't be the only reason. They could have hired me to do that for them. There must be something _else_ they did it for."

He looked away from her. He knew the other reason but he wasn't willingly to tell her what it was. It made no sense to Ridley himself considering being killed by Samus on Zebes would have and _should_ have been the the end of the matter. Was the federation that-

The former space pirate groaned, pain suddenly erupting in his head. He grabbed it, making what sounded like a mixture of a scream and a hiss, and crumbled to the ground in a ball of agony.

Samus stayed where she was, watching his writhing in pain, unable to grasp what she was seeing. What was wrong with him? She backed up a little, changing her charge beam setting to plasma. Was his body about to burst out into another grotesque surprise like his wings? Was he slowly turning back into his dragon form? Was that why he kept on doing these things?

But fortunately this bout of pain produced no further body horror, as it slowly faded away and Ridley, still on the ground, turned his face away from her to throw up on the floor. Then he went still, crouching on the cold floor, covered in sweat and panting heavily. From where the bounty hunter stood she could make out a look of utter exhaustion on his pale face.

"I bet this gives you great satisfaction," he finally said, still breathing heavily. "Your worst enemy reduced to such a state."

The bounty hunter didn't respond.

"Answer me!" he snapped, turning back to her. "You're _enjoying_ this! It makes you feel powerful, doesn't it? This is exactly what you have _wished_ for. "

Still she did not dignify him with an answer.

"Fine then," he pushed himself up off the floor shakily. "Be like that. "

"What exactly do you want me to say?" she finally asked. "Why do I need to? You know my feelings regarding you. I don't pity you, Ridley. These things that you are going through are _exactly_ what you deserve. After everything you have done, I consider this nothing more than justice."

" _Justice_?!" he hissed. "Like _you_ would know about any such thing." he looked at her, sneering. "especially considering what you yourself have done."

"I have done nothing," she responded to him. "except ensure you and your ilk do not succeed in your plans for the universe."

"Even going as far as destroying all the metroids and dooming an entire planet."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" she snapped.

Now he grinned at her, a sinister smile that showed off his sharp needle like teeth. "You'll find out."

Now Samus did respond, rushing across the room and grabbing him by the neck to slam him against the wall. " _Tell_ me!" she demanded.

He merely laughed in her face, giving away nothing. Samus, her face obscured by her helmet, gritted her teeth in anger, as a creeping dread began to sneak up on her. He had been there when she'd exterminated all the metroid on SR388, had witnessed her taking the last infant onto her ship. What if he's seen something happen _after_ she'd left the planet? What if he...

She swore, releasing him and allowing him to fall to the floor. He stayed there, looking up at her and grinning, his yellow eyes flaring. "Finally figured it out, I see."

The bounty hunter swore again, backing up from him. He _couldn't_ be telling the truth. She couldn't have messed up, she couldn't have doomed a planet. She couldn't have-

No, he was lying, he _had_ to be. She decided to just accept that for now and after this whole thing was over then she would go and see for herself if what he was trying to convince her of was true.

"Ridley," she began to say but was cut off.

"Of course you don't have to believe me," he said folding his arms and pulling his legs up to his chest as he sat there. "It's not like it's going to make any difference now."

No, it wasn't. She realized she wasn't getting anywhere talking to her old foe. This was all a waste of time. She wondered how long it was going to take before the others looking for him finally figured out where he was and came to collect him now that she hadn't been able to take him out.

However, before anymore words passed between them, the two suddenly became aware of a loud noise coming from somewhere else in the temple. Ridley looked at Samus, frowning. "Were you expecting visitors?"

 _A/N_

 _I don't know where I'm going with this anymore. I'm going to have to put this story on hiatus until I can figure out how I plan to end it. For those of you reading it I'm really sorry. I'll try to update as soon as I get inspiration again but I'm currently out of it. If you have suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. Just one thing. Ridley's not going to turn back into his dragon body. His current body is just... adjusting itself is all._


End file.
